Friends
by Alden-san
Summary: What if Ino had met Naruto when they were younger, and created a bond of friendship even her parents couldn't break? The story of their life, following the storyline, altered by a million small changes branching from one meeting. Chapter Five: Doubt!
1. Prologue

It was a sunny, happy afternoon at the park, and Yamanaka Ino was happy. Daddy and Mommy weren't here, she was allowed out herself! Sitting in the sandbox, building her sand castles alone, was sorta fun... No stupid Ami annoying her...  
  
Then, she noticed someone... A boy, sitting on his own too, stirring up the sand with his finger and looking sad. Maybe she could cheer him up!  
  
"Anou... Ohayou! I'm Ino!" she said, smiling as she stood near the boy. He looked up and smiled wide.  
  
"I'm Naruto!" he said simply, grinning.   
  
"Wanna make a sandcastle with me?" Ino asked him, sitting down and smiling back.  
  
"Sure..." he said, and the two started work. It was fun, and the two had lots of fun, talking and laughing.  
  
"Ino, you're pretty!" Naruto said, smiling.  
  
"T-t-thanks, Naruto-kun!" said the girl, blushing a little. "And you're handsome!"  
  
It was a nice sunshiney day...  
  
---  
  
"Ino-chan, never play with that boy again!" Mommy said, shaking her finger. "He's mean and ugly and stupid, and you don't like him! Right, Inoshi?"  
  
"Right," Daddy said from the couch, half-asleep.  
  
Now, Ino was a nice, obedient little girl, but she didn't like people telling her who and who not to be friends with. "Naruto-kun's nice..."  
  
"No he's not! He's awfully mean! How long have you known him?" Mommy asked, glaring.  
  
"How long have you, Mommy?" Ino glared right back.  
  
"I- No buts about it, young lady, you're not going to see him again, and that's that!" Mommy yelled.  
  
"I am too! Naruto's lonely, and he has no mommy and daddy, and we're friends!" Ino yelled, crossing her little arms and stomping her little foot.  
  
"Princess..." Daddy leaned over to his daughter and looked her in the eye.  
  
"No daddy, Naruto-kun's my friend..." Ino was on the verge of tears. "He's nice, and he's handsome, and he's the best sandcastle maker!"  
  
"Well, then, you can go to your room!" Mommy said, narrowing her eyes and leading her daughter away...  
  
-  
  
Friends  
  
By Alden-san  
  
Prologue  
  
-  
  
Sometimes... One meeting can change history forever...  
  
"Nyaaaah! Losers!" Ino stuck out her tongue at her sensei and the group that were now surrounding the two, and pulled at her eye, grinning wickedly. She twirled the paintbrush with her fingers expertly, before dumping her paintbrush into the paint, and slapping a streak of blue paint over Nidaime's nose. "Hah! Naruto, how's Sandaime going?" She yelled over at her mischievous partner in crime.  
  
"Heh... I'm working on his eye!" Naruto yelled back swirling the Konoha symbol over their current Hokage's eye artistically. Then, he stopped and looked over to see their teacher standing on one of the roofs.  
  
"You two, what do you think you are doing!?" the Hokage's voice came from below.  
  
"Uzumaki Naruto! Yamanaka Ino! Down here, right now!" he yelled angrily, glaring at both of them out of the corners of his eyes.  
  
"Aik! Naruto, we better go!" Ino said, jumping over and grabbing her friend's hand, yanking him away from perfecting a mole on Sandaime's cheek. Pulling him along, she jumped backwards, watching out for Iruka... And bumped right into him. "Ino... Naruto... Come with me..."  
  
"Iruka-sensei..." Ino grumbled as he led them off. "Whaddaya gonna do to us..."  
  
"I'll deal with you two after class today. Sit there and stay quiet! Naruto, may I remind you that tomorrow's graduation, and the last two times you participated, you failed in every course..." Iruka's voice was strict as he entered the classroom, with the miscreants in tow. Walking to the front of the room, he looked out on the class and announced, "Today in class, we'll be reviewing a form of Genjutsu! All you need to do, is use Henge-no-jutsu to transform into me, the teacher! Haruno, you first!"  
  
A girl, who was known to be slightly pretty, stepped up to the front of the class. Ino winked at her, and she gulped. "Henge!" she yelled, and when the smoke cleared, Iruka-sensei was standing there.  
  
He looked straight at Naruto. "Your turn, Uzumaki!"  
  
"This sucks..." Naruto grumbled, walking towards the front. Ino whispered, "Good luck..." as he passed.   
  
"Here goes nothing! HENGE!" The clouds of smoke enveloped him, and cleared to reveal - a beautiful, nude woman...  
  
Iruka stared at the transformed Naruto, rage covering his face... And the blood from his head shooting out in an enormous nosebleed. Iruka lay on the ground, looking up at the ceiling, his head spinning. Most of his classmates were staring, Ino was cheering, and Naruto yelled, "I call THIS one Sexy no jutsu!"  
  
Iruka stood shakily, and yelled "HOW BIG OF A FOOL ARE YOU! You waste all of your skill and talent inventing these stupid tricks!" His eyes shot to Ino, who was giggling quietly. "Class dismissed!" he yelled as the bell rang, and yanked Naruto and Ino from the room.  
  
"Ino, I'll be calling Inoshi-san for that trick with the monument, don't see that I won't. Meanwhile, you two will spend the rest of the evening wiping all of the paint off of the Hokage monument!"  
  
---  
  
Naruto stopped to catch his breath. Iruka said, "Naruto, Ino, you're not going home until there's not a scrape of paint on this monument!"  
  
"Hm. There's nobody for me to go home too, anyways..." Naruto grumbled. Ino looked at him, feeling that pang of guilt she always got when he mentioned his lack of parents. No kid should have to live like that...  
  
"Naruto... Ino..."  
  
"What?" Naruto asked, looking up.  
  
"Once you guys finish up... I'll buy you guys some ramen. Ino, your parents have probably finished dinner up by now..." Iruka said, feeling guilty. He knew, oh so well, that Ino's lack of dinner wouldn't be an accident.  
  
"Hell yeah!" Both yelled, suddenly working faster. Ino's belly grumbled, and she worked hard to uncover Nidaime's nose.  
  
---  
  
Ino hadn't ever had a passion for ramen when she was young. It wasn't often served at her home, and when it was, her mother mixed in a lot of icky spices she hated. She'd grown up disliking it... 'til Naruto treated her to some of Ichiraku's pork ramen. That had changed her viewpoint forever. Now, she gobbled enough to rival Naruto.  
  
"Hey, sensei, this is awesome!" Ino cheered, smiling a lot.  
  
"Yeah, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled.  
  
"Why did you pick that particular spot to deface? You two DO know who the Hokages are, right?" Iruka asked his students, looking at his students askance.  
  
"Of course, we're not stupid, sensei! The Hokage's are the leaders of the village, the best of the best!" Ino said. "It was the Yondaime Hokage-sama who saved the village from Kyuubi! And Sandaime..."  
  
"Then why?" He looked at Naruto, whom he knew thought of the idea. Ino... Wasn't the type to pick somewhere like that, really...  
  
"Cause I'M gonna be the next Hokage! I'm gonna surpass every one before me, and the whole village will have to kiss my ass!" Naruto said, his eyes full of determination. Iruka realised that this was the thing that mattered most to Naruto, really. His dream....  
  
"By the way... sensei... Can I wear your head protector? Pleeeease!?" Naruto held his hands out in a begging position and shot Iruka his puppy eyes.  
  
"This?" Iruka's hand moved to his head protector. "Naruto... This is a sign of adulthood. If you're ready, you'll get one tomorrow..."  
  
"Why tomorrow, sensei?" Ino looked over at Iruka over her second bowl of ramen (With whole-wheat noodles - She was on a diet!).  
  
"Because... With luck, you two'll graduate tomorrow!" Iruka smiled. "Now, we better get you two home, it's getting dark..."  
  
---  
  
"For your final exam!" Iruka shouted to his class, standing at the front, "You must each generate a bunshin! Wait in here until your name is called, then come into the next room, where Mizuki and I will tell you whether you pass or not!"  
  
'Bunshin... Damn, that's my worst skill...' Naruto thought, groaning. Ino patted him on the back, saying, "We went over these only two days ago, Naruto. You'll do fine..."  
  
Of course, Ino didn't voice her fears about his graduation, remembering that his bunshins had been horrible, and the successes he got were mere flukes...  
  
"Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto stood, and Ino did too.  
  
"Hey, Ino!" said one of the few left, "You weren't called!"  
  
"I'm going in with him! I'm next, anyways!" she yelled back, and walked up tot he door with Naruto.  
  
"You that loser's mommy now? Heh... Baby needs his mommy to come along?" Most of them laughed. Ino swore under her breath, told Naruto to 'ignore those idiots', and opened the door.  
  
Iruka and the teacher's assistant, Mizuki, sat at a double desk with a bunch of head protectors in front of them. Iruka raised his head and opened his mouth when Ino entered, but when she sat down and Naruto stepped up, he desisted. He closed his mouth and nodded at Naruto.  
  
Naruto scrunched up his face, and yelled, "Okay! Here we-"  
  
POOF! The burst of smoke, similar to that of the henge, enveloped Naruto. When it disappeared...  
  
Naruto stood there, with a copy of himself standing there... Problem was, it was without arms. Naruto winced, then looked hopefully at Iruka.  
  
"Well, that's a good bunshin... If your opponent was convinced you had your arms amputated..." Iruka said, annoyed and disappointed. "Fail."  
  
"But, Iruka-sensei!" Ino yelled, standing and glaring at her teacher.  
  
"Yeah, Iruka! This is his third time, and he almost managed it! There were a few flaws, but... Couldn't we give him a break?"  
  
"No, Mizuki. I don't believe that merits a passing grade. He only produced one, and it wasn't even well-made. The student is required to make three bunshins, well. With all due respect... Naruto's performance doesn't merit a passing grade."  
  
Both Ino and Mizuki starting arguing with Iruka, both talking too fast to be heard., as Naruto slipped out the back door. Iruka held up his hand, and said, "Ino, your turn."  
  
Ino swung her head, annoyed, and created three perfect Sexy Bunshin no jutsu's, and ran out of the room whispering, "Ass..."  
  
Iruka's eyes widened, and he had to stick a finger from each hand into each nostril to avoid losing blood. Mizuki just looked awkward, saying...  
  
"I guess that's a fail, then, too..."  
  
---  
  
"Naruto! Naruto!" Ino chased after him, walking quickly and grabbing onto his shoulder as he walked away, swinging him around. Naruto's eyes were filled with tears.   
  
"Ino... You shouldn't keep failing because of me..." he said, wiping tears from his eyes and looking at her.  
  
"I got him back. Iruka-sensei's an ass, so I won't mind coming back next year to torment him... With you there, it'll be fine. You'll pass with flying colours next year!"  
  
"Yeah right... I'm completely useless... I failed three times this year, three times! We're gonna be a year younger than everyone there, if you survive your dad! Three times, Ino! He'll go insane if you failed it again!" Naruto looked at her angrily. "Why did you do that!?"  
  
"Because, being a genin wouldn't matte if you weren't there with me, Naruto. You're like a brother to me," She said, smiling. "A younger brother, 'course..."  
  
Naruto smiled sadly. "You'll still..."  
  
"So'll you, I'm going to do whatever you do. I couldn't stand not having you around... And whatever Sakura say, she likes you around too," Ino shrugged, looking at her longtime friend. "We'll pass next year, and you'll start your path to Hokage then. First step, right? You've only walked up to the stairs, 'til now..." Ino leant back on the tree, her ponytail blowing in the wind.  
  
"Well... My dad yells if I'm not home within an hour after school, so... Ja ne, Naruto!" Ino saluted, and walked off.  
  
"Ja ne, Ino..." Naruto whispered, heading home himself...  
  
---  
  
"Hey, Naruto!" Naruto heard a voice from behind him, as he walked along the road. Mizuki was down the hill, waving. "Over here!"  
  
Naruto nodded, and headed over to his teacher, sitting down beside him on the grass. "What, Mizuki?" he asked, annoyed.  
  
"Iruka-sensei... He's a really serious guy, you know?" Mizuki looked to Naruto, who nodded. "His parents died when he was young so everything he's accomplished, he did it without them. He's had to work to become as strong as he is, and he's had to be real hard on himself, for discipline.  
  
"So? What's that got to do with me, Mizuki?" Naruto asked. Mizuki bristled at the lack of an honorific, but continued,  
  
"You remind him of himself. He thinks he's helping you, you know, helping you get strong. As strong as he made himself be. Try to give him a break, okay? One orphan to another?" He looked at Naruto hopefully.  
  
"I really wanted to graduate, though..." Naruto whined, looking at the ground.  
  
"I guess there's no choice then... Let me tell you a secret, 'kay?" Mizuki turned to Naruto and started talking. Naruto's eyes widened with glee, and he ran off...  
  
"Heh heh..." Mizuki rubbed his hands together, and headed off to go make some tea.  
  
---  
  
Naruto crept into the Hokage's yard, trying his best to walk silently. Then, a figure appeared in the dark. "What are you doing in my house, Naruto-kun? It's late..."  
  
Naruto swore, then... "Behold, Harem no jutsu!"  
  
Bloods spurted, and the Hokage fell to the ground. Naruto looked behind him. "Ino, you watch him, okay? Mizuki said it was in here..." Naruto went into a room, and soon came out carrying a large scroll. "Let's go!"  
  
Inonodded, and followed. The two bounced from house to house, until they reached the forest. Finally they stopped, and Naruto said, "Mizuki said this spot helps you train easier. Learn these skills, and we'll pass for sure!" Naruto said. Ino bit a fingernail.  
  
"Are you sure this is... okay? We just stole from the Hokage, isn't that punishable by execution or something?"  
  
"It's fine, Mizuki said so!" Naruto pleaded. Finally Ino gave in. "Soo... What's first? Kage Bunshin!? Umm... Naruto... We're gonna have some trouble..."  
  
Finally, they started working to learn the skill...  
  
---  
  
6 hours later...  
  
"Iruka! Naruto has stolen the secret scroll!" Mizuki pounded on Iruka's door. Iruka opened the door. "Now he's gone too far..." he muttered, and headed off, thinking, 'He'll be in the forest, that's a ways away from the village..."  
  
He sped up, and landed in the forest. Suddenly, he stopped and fell over, looking into the clearing. There wasn't one, but TWO people there, trying out ninjutsu with an open scroll! Naruto and Ino! Iruka stood, and headed over.  
  
"Naruto, Ino, what are you two doing here? And with THIS? You guys..." Iruka looked to Naruto for answers.  
  
"Iruka-sensei, you gotta see the technique we learned, you'll HAVE to pass us now!" Naruto was smiling, giving his teacher the thumbs-up.  
  
"Where did you get that scroll? Why?" Iruka looked to his students.  
  
"Mizuki told me, and I got Ino to come! He told us about the scroll, and this place..." Naruto stopped as a hand shoved him away.   
  
"Iruka-sensei!" Ino screamed as their teacher flew backwards, punctured in several places by shuriken and kunai and stuck to a tree. Mizuki was kneeling on a tree, looking down on them, with some huge shuriken on his back! Looking quickly to the scroll, she threw a kunai towards Mizuki, kicked it to roll it up and send it into the air, then shot it into the holder. She grabbed it, only to see Mizuki coming towards her. She ducked and jumped to Naruto. "Naruto," she said, breathlessly.  
  
"You two, protect that scroll with your lives! If Mizuki gets his hands on it... It has a forbidden jutsu in it, Mizuki just wants it for himself!" Iruka yelled, struggling to remove himself from the tree.  
  
"Naruto, there's a jutsu in there that you'll never understand unless I teach it to you! Do you know what really happened twelve years ago, almost the night you were born?" Mizuki yelled, standing up in a tree. "I'll tell you what really happened to the Kyuubi, and not even blondie here knows! There was a decree, about then, not to talk about it!"  
  
"About what!?" Ino demanded, looking up at Mizuki. "I think you're lying!"  
  
"The first clause of the decree was that it was to be kept completely secret, especially to you, Naruto. Because, the decree..."  
  
"NO! Don't you dare Mizuki!"  
  
"The decree was that nobody was to tell you that you ARE the Kyuubi itself!" he screamed at the boy. Naruto stepped back, looking at Mizuki, stuttering,   
  
Naruto stepped back, looking at Mizuki, stuttering, "What the hell are you talking about!?"   
  
"He's probably lying, Naruto..." Ino said, but that wasn't comforting, because her eyes were wide as she stepped in front of Naruto. "Shut up, you filthy liar!"  
  
"Why do you think everyone hates you? Why do you think you have no parents? You're the demon, bound into that form by our beloved Yondaime Hokage..,. And that scroll is the instrument of your bondage! If he told the truth, even Iruka would tell you he hates you! You killed his parents!" Mizuki yelled.  
  
Naruto stepped back, falling over. Ino glared at the man, and smirked. "And what am I, the reincarnation of the Great Tsunade? Don't make me laugh, sensei," she spit out the word like a curse. "The little kids might like your scary stories, but us big kids that know the easter bunny isn't real aren't that easy to fool!"  
  
"You think I'm lying, Yamanaka? You think I'm not telling the truth to that monster in boy's form, eh? The reason you don't have a grandfather, and you stand there defending him?" Mizuki stared her down.  
  
"You might fool Naruto, but you can't fool me by throwing around my grandfather's name!" Ino stood up to him... But Naruto had seen the truth, and the hate, in Mizuki's eyes. He turned, and ran.  
  
"Naruto!" Iruka yelled, pulling himself from the tree and rushing off, into the tops of the trees. Ino followed.  
  
"Now, I just have to get rid of the girl!" Mizuki yelled, running after them. With a small poof, he changed his form, and quickly caught up to Ino, trying to catch up. "Ino, Mizuki's after the scroll! Give it here, before he catches up!"  
  
Ino leapt towards him, and he smiled... Until she ducked down and connected the bottom of her foot with his jaw. Flying back, off the tree, he landed with a crash, while Ino stopped on the ground gracefully, sliding onto her knees. He looked at her. "Ino... How..."  
  
POOF! "How did you know I wasn't Iruka?" Mizuki asked, standing slowly.  
  
"Because I am..." Iruka stepped out of the trees behind Ino, looking at Mizuki. "Game's up, Mizuki. I'm taking you in!"  
  
Mizuki smiled horribly. "Very noble, Iruka. Saving your parent's murderer... What if we let him live?"  
  
"Then he'll be able to tell everyone about this, so they can be ready for you... Cell and all," Iruka said, wincing at his wounds.  
  
"Naruto and I are two of a kind. Both of us can obtain limitless power using it... The demon in him hungers for that kind of strength. You were right to fear and despise him..."  
  
"The demon you're talking might be like that..." Ino looked into Mizuki's eyes, and stood.  
  
"But not Naruto... Not the boy..." Iruka stepped up beside her, laying a hand on her shoulder. "For him, I have not hing but respect. He's an excellent student. He works with all his might, but sometimes he's so awkward, clumsy... A screw-up... People and shunned him. And it's given him empathy. He knows what it's like to be in pain... To depend on one person's kind thoughts and words most of his life, and that, only in the day. Living on his own has given him a sense of maturity no others in our academy can boast of. That boy is no longer your Kyuubi!" Iruka shouted, looking Mizuki straight in the eye. "He's a citizen of Konohagakure Village... Uzumaki Naruto!"  
  
Mizuki snorted. "Awww, how cute. Well, I guess I'll take the scroll now, Yamanaka. You don't want to deal with me, I'm on a much higher level than you... Hand the scroll over,a nd I might spare you."  
  
"Hmph... I can take a weak bastard like you on any time!" Ino said, talking more confident than she was. Slipping off the scroll, she handed it to a protesting Iruka. "Sensei, you're injured. I may not have graduated, but I can at least take him on..."  
  
Ino shot forwards, ducking under his arm to deliver a kick to the stomach. Knocking him over, she stood over him with a kunai in her hand. Plunging it down, she... stopped. Mizuki had pulled a huge shuriken from behind his back, and had slashed it across her back. Ino fell with a scream, and he stood over her, slashing the shuriken down. Ino screamed, and two points dug into the ground, one on each side of her neck. The edge between came to rest on her neck. She pounded her fists against his legs, but he just dug his knee into her chest, and laughed sadistically.  
  
WHAM! A fist connected with Mizuki's face, and a foot knocked the shuriken from Ino's neck. Naruto landed, sliding on the ground, and stood. He looked at Mizuki, shaking with anger. "If you touch Iruka-sensei or Ino, I'LL KILL YOU!"  
  
"Naruto?" Ino looked up at the boy's face, calm but angry, a cool fury.  
  
"Naruto, Ino, get out of there!" Iruka yelled, taking a step forwards.  
  
"Loudmouth brat! I can kill you with one hit!" Mizuki almost screamed, taking a step towards Naruto.  
  
"Bring it on! Anything you throw at me, I'm gonna shove down your throat!" Naruto made a sign with his hands.  
  
"Try it, little kitsune!" Mizuki yelled, laughing. "You'll regret it!"  
  
"Oh yeah? KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Naruto yelled, activating a jutsu. The forest was suddenly filled with Naruto's. One stepped forwards. "You were gonna kill me with one punch, right?"  
  
Mizuki stepped away from the speaker and fell over, looking around him frantically. 'How did he...!?'  
  
"If you're not gonna... One punch, right? Here goes!" ALL of the Naruto's, maybe a hundred of them, readied a punch... After ten or twenty minutes, all of the Naruto's disappeared except one, and Mizuki was a beaten heap on the ground. "I guess... I guess I overdid it a little, eh..." Naruto shuddered.  
  
"Must have been exhausting..." Iruka said. "Naruto, come here. I have a present for you..."  
  
Ino sort of faded into the background, watching it unfold. She'd finally seen the technique they'd mastered USED. She watched Naruto close his eyes, and Iruka hand him... His forehead protector!?  
  
"Congratulations, graduate... And Ino? That little trick in the test was a fully fledged bunshin, even if it was a bit different from what was expected. Come on over here!"  
  
Ino walked, limping a little, over to the two. She sat down n front of her teacher expectantly, knowing what would come next, and smiled.  
  
"Now... how about some ramen, to celebrate?"  
  
The reply was a unanimous 'HELL YEAH!'  
  
-Chp. 1 End-  
  
----  
  
Authors Note  
  
Okay, so the first chapter's done... it's pretty faithful to the first chapter of the manga, I think. Quite a bit is quoted straight from it... I hope you liked it! Enough to read more? I'll try to divert more from the manga... Especially since the Ino/Sakura/Sasuke/Naruto thing's a bit more complicated... A few flashbacks explaining their current situation better... Is this believable, and non-plageristic?   
  
Ja ne!  
  
Alden 


	2. Chapter One: Meetings

  
Friends By Alden-san Chapter One: Meetings 

"Sakura!"

"Mom! I'll do it later! Please?"

"Alright..." Her mother's annoyed reply came on the wind that followed Sakura up the path and out of her home. "Be back by lunch, though, okay honey!"

"Okay, Mom! See you in a bit!" She called back, and bent over to open the gate, fumbling as she tried to unlock it as fast as she could. Unlocking the gate and pushing it open, she took a step, determined to build up speed...

"Good morning, Sakura..." A derisive voice, followed by a 'hmph' and a hint of rude laughter met her as she cursed her lack of speed. If only she'd left a bit earlier!

"Damn..." Sakura muttered, agreeing fullheartedly with Inner Sakura that this was a common enemy. Sighing, she addressed the figure without turning, through gritted teeth. "Hello, Kiba..."

'Stupid ass...' she thought, then attempted to calm herself down. Breathing in, and out, and in... she was making some progress...

"Wha's wrong, Sa-ku-ra? Dun like your neighbour much? I'm hurt..." Kiba, one of the graduates from her class, and her lifelong neighbour, jumped from his door, over the hedges between the houses, to land behind her. "What's your problem... Forehead girl?"

"What do you want, Kiba..." She muttered under her breath.

"Just the satisfaction of seeing you cover that big bald spot of yours, " Kiba grinned, glad at seeing Sakura's oh-so-strong defenses crumble. He worked, almost daily, to annoy her as much as he could.

"Screw you..." Sakura said angrily, pushing the gate open and walking out onto the street, heading for the park to meet her friends.

"See you later, pinkie!" He called after her, laughing uproariously.

'I really hope I'm on a different team than that jerk is......' Sakura muttered inwardly, cursing her annoying neighbour and his oddly coloured dog. 'Maybe... on a team with Sasuke-kun!? And... Hmmm... Maybe Shikamaru, or someone... There's only one girl per team, so I think I'll be good as long as Sasuke-kun's on my team and Kiba isn't! Maybe Naruto would've been a good... but he didn't graduate... again...'

Finally, she stood at the edge of the park where she and her friends usually met, and looked around. Shikamaru was sitting at his regular table with Hinata, playing their daily game of shogi. Tenten was with them, sitting to their side, watching and smiling. Chouji was sitting across from Tenten, sort of watching the game (but focusing more on his snack, a small bag of chips). And another table was being used as a seat by Ino and Naruto...

"Naruto! You have a hitai-ate!" Sakura gasped, surprised, and ran over to her two best friends. "You did it! How?"

"Geez Sakura... Don't yell so early in the morning... Such a troublesome voice..." Shikamaru complained, lounging back on his chair while Hinata quietly pushed one of her pieces a bit forward. His blue-haired partner was biting her lower lip nervously, then opened her mouth to speak.

"Ummm... Shikamaru...? Could you... ummm... move one of your pieces?" Hinata said, like everything else she did, quietly. Shikamaru turned back to the board, sighing and smiling slightly, then lowered his eyes to the board. Meanwhile, Sakura was cheering at the sight of the thing wrapped around Naruto's head.

"I didn't want to get it dirty, but I wanted to show everyone, so..." Naruto smiled, making a victory 'V' with his fingers and pointing it at Sakura. "Like it?

"Yeah, Naruto! It's awesome..." She ran up to him and hugged him. "You did it! But... How?" Sakura stepped back, and doubt shadowed her features. "Did you bribe Iruka-sensei?"

"No... umm..." Naruto lapsed into silence. To tell her what happened, or not? He wasn't even sure if it was legal to tell her. The ANBU had told Iruka not to tell anyone, and Naruto assumed the warning was meant for them too.

"Naruto and I went back to the Academy and asked for a retest. It was late, so Naruto's name was never posted up on the board..." Ino frowned. "I think they're putting his name up this afternoon, though. Aren't they neat? Sasuke-kun will love them, proves to him that we're not just useless groupies, right Naruto?"

"Ehhh... yeah..." The insanely truthful Naruto wasn't sure why Ino has lied so much... It was only the Kyuubi that was illegal, not what happened last night... Then it clicked: If people knew about it, they might look into it. Sakura included.

"Mizuki-sensei was sacked last night too. Iruka said that he was... charged with illegal smuggling of Konoha secrets into enemy hands, I think." Ino said. Iruka had explained, also later, that this was true. Iruka had found out about Mizuki's plans in some notes left at the school (Which clued him into heading him off in the forest.

"Hmmm... Interesting..." Sakura looked thoughtful. What had happened last night? It seemed all too Coincedental, but... It was confusing...

"Mizuki-sensei? He was always around in my classes, but never taught anything... Hmmm... Should have guessed he was a spy. I'm glad he's gone, he was always... eying me..." Tenten said with a shudder. "He was definitely a creep..."

"You were in Iruka-sensei's class last year, Tenten?" Ino asked, looking her way. "I thought..."

"You thought I might be in some other class? No, we're all graduates of the same class... Neat, huh?" Tenten leaned forward, to look at the board. "Shika, I think you made an illegal move!"

"What- Err... Hinata, can I move my piece...? So troublesome.." Shikamaru said, and pushed the piece to the side as Hinata nodded.

"Hrmm... Shikamaru, you think I could learn how to play this?" Chouji looked over the board. "It looks easy... but there are so many different pieces..."

"Ermm... Ehhh... I'll teach you... sometime..." Shikamaru nodded, with an added word under his breath. Then he put a finger on one of his pieces and moved it forwards.

"Thanks, Shikamaru!" Chouji exclaimed, smiling and biting down on another chip.

"N'problem..." Shikamaru turned back to the board. Hinata had already moved. Shikamaru put his hand to one of his pieces, and pushed it forward.

Hinata stared at the board for a few minutes while Shikamaru opened a couple of pop cans. He rolled one over to Hinata.

"Thank you, Shikamaru... Ummm... I forfeit..." Hinata nodded her head to the table. Shikamaru cracked a smile.

"You were pretty good this time, Hinata. It was a good time to forfeit for you, though, I could see that you missed the chance to defeat me a few turns ago..." Shikamaru looked over at his friends. "I think I'll go home and read... or something..."

"Guys!" Tenten's sudden outburst interrupted Shikamaru's decision. "I think we should all have lunch somewhere, to celebrate, your guys' graduation! My treat!"

An (almost) unanimous "Yeah!" swept the park, the only negative reply being Shikamaru's "Too troublesome..". Other than that, it was unopposed (and everyone knew Shikamaru probably wanted to go too, anyways). When Tenten asked where to go, though, it was a big argument.

Naruto and Ino wanted ramen. Chouji wanted some Korean BBQ. Hinata, shyly, asked if they could get some dango, and Sakura agreed, forcefully. Shikamaru just wanted 'whatever'...

"Why not Shukou square? We can sit there, and you guys can all go get what you want, around there. Sakura and Hinata can get their dango, Ino and Naruto can head to Ichiraku, while Chouji can take Shikamaru to his buffet. Then, we can meet back at the square with our food! How 'bout it?" Tenten suggested. She had always been good at accommodating to everyone's preferences.

"Hell yeah! This is awesome! Thanks, Tenten!" Ino cheered, pulling Tenten from her chair and spinning her around.

"Hey, anything to get away from Neji's brooding and Lee's hyperactivity... Hinata, even you can't pretend he's not hyper, you know that," Tenten looked in the younger girl's direction.

"Yes, Lee-san is hyper, sometimes... I guess... But-" Hinata, looked at her older friend's face, as Tenten cut her off with a hand gesture.

"Yes, I know he's a hard worker, and that's he's a good person, etc. etc. You don't defend Lee all the time, Hinata, even if- Well, lighten up a little, okay?"

"O-o-okay, Tenten...." Hinata gulped and smiled a little bit.

"Now... Let's go!" Tenten pointed the way towards the square, and headed that way. The rest promptly followed.

--

Every passerby, or at least almost every passerby, looked oddly at the group at one of the square's many tables. Most of the academy's graduating class, sitting around a table with a girl from last years graduating class, eating seemingly random lunches from various restaurants, talking about random things. Right now, the popular conversation topic was Sasuke.

"He's an ass..." Shikamaru stated his opinion forcibly.

"Shikamaru, Sasuke's not an ass, he's just..." Ino stopped herself, searching for a phrase, then continued with, "Not on anti-depressants..."

"Yeah, Shikamaru, Sasuke's..." Sakura then proceeded to blush furiously as she bit into her dango.

"Well, I'll be fine as long as I'm not in his team..." Shikamaru muttered. "Such a troublesome guy..."

"Stupid Sasuke..." Naruto twirled his ramen professionally on his chopsticks and shoved it into his mouth. He then continued, full mouth or not, with "He'z definetly an ash!" 

"Narutoooooo!" Ino groaned, smacking him over the head with her empty bowl of ramen. "Because you and Shika were complaining about our beloved Sasuke, you two can go get my refills of ramen!"

"And me some more dango!" Sakura said, waving her hand furiously.

"I thought you were on a diet?" Ino turned to her friend.

"I'm allowed to splurge every so often..." Sakura nodded, and yanked Shikamaru up by the collar. "Go, Shika!"

"Yeah, Naruto, go!" Ino pushed her two male best friends in the general direction of Ichiraku...

"Eugh... Troublesome women..." Shikamaru said, as Naruto dragged him towards his and Ino's favourite ramen stand. He grumbled almost straight on the way to the ramen stand. Finally, they reached the stand, and both sat down.

"Hey, it's.. errr.. Shinto!" Naruto said, smiling and pointing to another of his graduating class. The boy, looked over at Naruto quietly, and Naruto could feel annoyance in that look, even though the boy's eyes and lower face were hidden by dark glasses and coat collar, respectively. He was also creeped out by the fact the boy wore the coat in this heat...

"Naruto..." Shikamaru groaned.

"What?" Naruto's head snapped back to look at Shikamaru.

"... His name's Shino, not Shinto..." Shikamaru grumbled, looking over to the old man who ran the stand. "Could you get your damn ramen so we can go?"

"Sure, sure..." Naruto said, waving the stand-tender over. When he came, Naruto promptly ordered his own shrimp ramen, and Ino's miso and pork ramen. Eating quickly, he then covered Ino's bowls (two Pork and miso), then yanked Shikamaru from his seat.

"You're getting Sakura's dango!" He said, pulling him along down the road.

"Yeah, yeah..." Shikamaru groaned, being dragged along by his energetic friend. They reached the place where they sold dango, and bought two steaming hot ones for Sakura, bagged them and headed out of the shop. On the way, Naruto bumped into someone.

"Che... Naruto..." The boy said, making a rude sound.

"Sasuke..." Naruto glared at his classmate, and made his way to his feet. "What're YOU doing here?"

"Getting my lunch, dobe... Now move..." Sasuke shoved past him, muttering something rude. Naruto swore under his breath and made his way out the door.

"Who does that bastard think he is..." He grumbled as he and Shikamaru walked back to their table.

"Eugh... Naruto, Your fights are so troublesome..." The two then made their way the the table, and sat themselves down.

"What took you so long?" Ino grumbled, taking her ramen. "It's probably cold by now..."

"Yeah..." Sakura agreed, a bit less forcibly, and took her bag from Shikamaru, who proceeded to slump backwards in his chair and grumble.

"So... You're all genins now!" Tenten smiled and clapped her hands. "That's exciting, right?"

"Yeah... Now I have to pay the bills, not just for food..." Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms. "Stupid cheap bastards..."

"Naruto, don't worry... You'll be fine..." Ino patted him on the back with a hopeful tone in her voice. "And we could help, if you really need it..."

Naruto just sighed.

--

Umino Iruka sat at his desk shuffling through papers. Looking back through the profiles, he gave them one last check before he'd leave...

Team 5:

Kouboku Ami. Excels at foreign jutsu. Mediocre stealth skills. Low-class nin.

Kouboku Miki. Excels at plant-related jutsu and medic skills. Weak projectile control. Average nin.

Umino Haruka. Excels in foreign jutsu and chakra control. Bloodline skill (limited control): Quick Healing. High-class nin.

Team 6:

Sukiwa Kasumi: Excels in genjutsu. Weak in taijutsu. Low-class nin.

Sawa Kuno: Excels in Taijutrsu and genjutsu. Weak ninjutsu and stealth skills. Average nin.

Kukurou Fuki: Excels in fire jutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu and projectile use Weak in stealth skills. High-class nin.

Team 7:

Yamanaka Ino. Excels in stealth, genjutsu and mind-control jutsu. Weak taijutsu. High-class nin.

Akimichi Chouji. Excels in size-increase taijutsu and calorie-to-chakra conversion. Mediocre genjutsu. Average nin.

Uzumaki Naruto. Weak chakra control. Strong bunshin. Failed exam three times, but proved aptitude only hours after last test. Low-class nin.

Team 8:

Aburame Shino. Excels in Kikai bug control and taijutsu. Average-good in other skills. High-class nin.

Inuzuka Kiba. Excels in taijutsu and dog partnership specialty. Weak ninjutsu. Failed exam once. Average nin.

Hyuuga Hinata. Excels in genjutsu. Bloodline skill (very limited control): Byakugan. Low-class nin.

Team 10:

Uchiha Sasuke: Excels in ninjutsu. High taijutsu. Average genjutsu. Bloodline Skill (not unlocked): Sharingan. High-class nin.

Haruno Sakura. Excels in chakra control, genjutsu and sword techniques. Poor taijutsu and elemental jutsu. Average nin.

Nara Shikamaru. Does not apply himself. Borderline effort. Poor everything. Low-class nin.

Iruka wasn't sure if he was too harsh in Shikamaru's case, but the boy was completely useless most days. Iruka was surprised when the boy stood up and passed the test... A perfect accent opposite to overachiever Uchiha and in-training Sakura.

Satisfied with his results, she moved to put the sheets in the folder for Hokage-sama, but something interrupted him.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Someone was knocking at his classroom door! Iruka stood and made his way to the classroom's door. Opening it quietly, he was not surprised at all to see Ino's parents. Were they here about Ino's recent conduct?

Iruka bowed slightly, to be polite, then led them to his desk. Sitting down, he laid his hands on the table and waited for the Yamanaka's to be seated. Once they did, Ino's mother opened her mouth.

"We were wondering about Ino-chan's teammates."

That meant she wanted to know if Naruto was on her team. Iruka groaned inwardly.

"We were hoping... me'n the guys were hoping that Ino, Shika and Chouji could experience the same thing we did, with the InoShikaCho, like the old Team 10 did..." Inoshi clasped his hands together and rested them on the desk. "I know it might be some trouble, but would it be alright?"

Iruka knew the team would never work. Chouji was not the general Chomaru had been. Shikamaru was even LESS motivated than his father had been, and Ino's boy obsession came up even more than Inoshi's womanizing. None of them showed any potential to change like their fathers had to create the InoShikaCho.

"Yes, Inoshi-san. I think that's a wise decision... How is Ino, by the way?" The three continued polite conversation as Iruka changed the sheets...

Team 5:  
Kouboku Ami Kouboku Miki Umino Haruka

Team 6:  
Sukiwa Kasumi Sawa Kuno Kukurou Fuki

Team 7: Uchiha Sasuke Haruno Sakura Uzumaki Naruto

Team 8:  
Aburame Shino Inuzuka Kiba Hyuuga Hinata

Team 10:  
Yamanaka Ino Akimichi Chouji Nara Shikamaru

And, as the two parents waved him goodbye from down the academy hallways, Iruka cursed his weak resolve when it came to stand up to a student's parents, to tell them he disagreed with their decisions. This weakness had time and again weakened the genin teams and through that, Konoha's ninja.

Then, he closed the file, sealed it, and dropped it off in the Head's office. Stepping into the mild air, he headed off at a brisk pace homewards.

-End Chapter Two- 


	3. Chapter Two: Conversations

"Ino... How long are you gonna take?" Naruto whined, looking over at his friend. Even though her name came after Naruto's, she'd come with him and demanded she get her picture taken first. She's gotten especially dressed up, and wanted the least chance of her dress getting ripped. It was 'very delicate' and it was one of her mother's old dresses. Her mother had been hesitant about lending it to Ino, but finally hugged her and told her she was proud of her, and that the dress looked to lovely on her to keep from her.

"Well, I have to be posed just right, Naruto..." she said as if he were stupid (even though both realised that the photo would be of her head, and only the collar of the dress would be visible anyways.

"But... Ino..." Naruto's stomach growled. "Why're you taking so long right before lunch! Why couldn't you have waited?"

"I couldn't EAT in it, Naruto!"

"You could have changed!"

"That could rip it!"

"What COULDN'T rip it, then, Ino? And-"

"Posing for a photo! And I came with you 'cause, well..." Ino looked away. She sort of felt guilty. It wasn't Naruto's fault if Uzumaki came after Uchiha in the dictionary, right?

"Because you thought we could catch Uchiha leaving, right?" Naruto said, groaning and crossing his arms. "I was right yesterday, you know. Sasuke IS an ass, and you know it!"

"Sasuke is..." Ino got that dreamy look on her face that she only had when she talked about Sasuke (or her cousin Yoshimaru... And since Naruto knew the reason for the look about Sasuke, he was wondering whether Ino was considering her cousin as a possibly love interest. Which Naruto hoped wasn't the case. Of course, Naruto had the same look when it came to ramen, so he wasn't sure if the look was completely romantic).

"Sasuke is the most beautiful guy in the world. And he's deep, always thinking... And he's strong..." Ino continued blithely, smiling into space.

FLASH!

"Hey, what was that for?" She demanded, looking at the photographer. "I wasn't ready!"

"I know a potential good picture when I see it, miss. Come over here..." The guy said, motioning her over and smiling. Ino wasn't sure about his idea of a good picture, seeing as he was pretty old - And she'd seen other pictures from the Academy ID's. They were pretty bad. So... Then, she looked over his shoulder at the picture.

"Good enough?" he asked.

"Hell yeah..." She murmured, looking at the picture oddly. Was that her? This pale beauty with flowers in her hair and a distant, beautiful smile? Damn, she looked good.

"Uzumaki, Naruto?" the guy asked, looking up.

Ino smiled and watched as Naruto bounded up to the chair. 'He's so excited...' Then she excused herself to change out of that dress that was the cause of her current headache.

Friends By Alden-san Chapter Two: Conversations 

"Very good picture, Ino. Although, I wonder whether this gives the impression that you are, how can I say it... dreamy? Of course, anyone who knew you would know otherwise, but... Anyways, good job."

Ino bowed her head, murmuring, "Thank you, Hokage-sama..."

Sarutobi smiled a bit. Ino, no matter how excitedly her actions were most of the time, had always paused to give him the respect others sometimes forgot. His mind flashed to his grandson, and he smiled a little. 'That boy... I wonder what he and Naruto are doing...'

"Ahem, Ino... You may go..."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Ino's eyes widened as she bowed rushedly and left the room.

"Very skittish young girl, ne, Hokage-sama?" One man remarked to his superior lightly

"Ino is just overawed sometimes, Kumo-san. It isn't that much of a worry. Now, I will retire for the day... Only a few more new genin tomorrow? I see..."

The men stood and headed home, talking pleasantly as they headed for the Hokage's office.

----

"Where were you all day? I've been looking all over!" Ino raged, whacking Naruto over the head, annoyed.

Later in the day, the two were laying on the grass outside of the city walls, looking up into the sky. They did this often, at least once a week.

"I was with a kid, Konohamaru..." Naruto grinned. "He's really good for his age! He can do henge already!"

"Wow... That's Hokage-sama's grandson, right?" Ino asked, and Naruto nodded.

"Oh! Ino!" Naruto sat up.

"What, Naruto?" Ino looked over at her friend, smiling.

"Well, I was thinking..." Naruto's mischievous grin was back. "I think Sasuke likes guys!"

Of course, Ino wouldn't let him get away with THAT remark. So she pelted him mercilessly with grass.

"Hey, Ino! That hurts- Ow, you hit me in the eye!"

Ninja wielding grass is a scary thing. ESPECIALLY an angry Ino wielding grass.

"What do you mean, my beloved Sasuke-kun's gay! He does NOT like men! He doesn't! That's just STUPID!"

"Well, I was talking to Tenten..."

"Eugh..." Ino rolled her eyes. "Of course you'd believe anything 'Tenten' says, ne, Naruto? I mean, she's the best one to talk about Sasuke-kun? An older girl who despises him and pretty much every girl who admires his gorgeous looks, then goes off to stare at that box of angst, Neji, who just happens to be the bishounen of her year? Not that I don't detest those fangirls too, but at least I'm not a hypocrite about it. How can odango-girl call them fangirls when she spends her whole day making eyes at her teammate?" Ino grumbled undoing her hair and letting it fall down. "I mean, seriously..."

"Ino..." Naruto had a thoughtful expression on, looking at Ino confusedly.

"Yeah, Naruto?"

"Sakura-chan likes dango, not Tenten..." Naruto knew right away he'd misinterpreted her statement. Maybe the enormous sweatdrop clued him in.

"It's not that she likes dangos, it's... eugh. Naruto, have you seen the girl's hair? That's dango if I've ever seen it!" Ino yelled, waving her hands around.

"What's that, ramen-tail?" A kunai buried itself in the trunk of a tree inches from Ino's head. Ino froze, not turning her head.

"You heard me, ne?"

"Mhm. Every word." Tenten was standing behind Ino, tossing a kunai from hand to hand.

"Eheheh... I'll see you, Naruto! See you... odango-san!" Ino yelled, running off into the distance. Tenten sighed, sitting beside Naruto, wrapping her arms around her knees. She looked over at her friend's face.

"Naruto... Congratulations on the graduation. I mean it. You worked hard, and you got it.," she smiled, looking up into the trees. "The leaves fall to the ground and they grow back into the spring. That's why they decided to have the graduation ceremony in the spring and the mass memorial in the fall. Symbolism, you know?"

"Mhm..." Naruto nodded.

"Read that on my fortune cookie," Tenten took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "You know... I'm really proud of you. Seriously - Since I met you a year or so ago you've really grown. Forget Iruka-sensei, forget those other kids. I bet they couldn't come up with anything like you and Ino do... Like that Dual Spinning Rhythm Taijutsu you created for Third Class project. That was probably the best thing I'd seen in that class since... Well, since Neji's Great Cloud Taijutsu the year before, but still...." Tenten shrugged. "Now you're a genin, you know."

Naruto nodded, grinning. "Yeah, a genin. I get to do all these awesome missions, and get money, and-"

"Not by a longshot. I've been a genin for a year, and my team still gets a lot of crappy weeding or pet retrieval missions," Tenten said, shaking her head. "You'll be getting small jobs for at least another half a year. After that, you might get a few C level. That's what we're doing still.... It's really boring, too..."

"I'm not gonna do crappy D levels! I'm gonna do some B level missions, right away! Then, when they see how awesome I am, they'll get me on A levels!" Naruto cheered, pumping his fist in the air. "Just watch me!"

Tenten just smiled and shook her head. "So when are your teams chosen?"

Naruto struggled with a paper in his pocket, yanking out and unfolding it.

"Tomorrow," he nodded. "At the academy..."

"Ahhh, I see. I wonder who you'll get teamed up with..." Tenten mused aloud, laying down.

"I met a kid today... Weird kid. Name's Konohamaru, he's the-"

"Third's grandson, yeah. What's the kid like? I mean, I've seen him a few times..." Tenten sat back up, looking interested. "Is he any good?"

"He's a good kid, I guess. He learned my Sexy no Jutsu pretty quick. He wants to beat me out for Hokage. Psh, like that's going to happen, right?" Naruto grinned.

"Yeah... Eck! Damn, I promised Mum I'd help her with the laundry! See you, Naruto!" Tenten got up and ran, waving back at him and yelling. Naruto waved back, then turned back to look out at the lake. The sun made a nice effect on the water.

Bumph! Something soft hit him in the back of the head. He picked it up - It was swimming trunks. "Hey, Naruto! Let's go swimming!"

Ino was back.

---

"You know, Naruto..." Ino's hand rubbed through his hair. "You're pretty cute when you have wet hair..."

"Wha-?" Naruto started to turn around.

"Hya!" Ino dunked his head underwater with her hand and swam over him. "Gotcha, Uzumaki!"

"Ino! I'll get you!" Naruto swam after her, grinning.

"Just try it, Na-ru-to-kuuuuuuun," Ino flashed him an impudent grin.

After a few minutes of splashing around in the lake (and Naruto chasing Ino around it fourty-seven times) the two decided to get out of the water and get some ramen.

"Inoooooo!" Naruto grinned wider.

"Yes, Naruto?" Ino groaned.

"Do you have any money? I spent all mine already-" It was true. Groceries were expensive.

"No! I gave you my whole allowance last week in ramen!" It was true. Feeding Naruto was expensive, too.

"But I caught you!"

"I did!"

"Alright, Naruto, once we get there, I'll buy you two bowls, that's IT!"

And as they struggled through the sand (Naruto carrying Ino, because she didn't want to get dirty and he didn't want her complaining about it later), Naruto thought what a great day it had been. And how much he loved ramen.

-----

"Naruto, where were you all day? I mean, you mentioned the kid Konohamaru, but other than that, you really didn't volunteer any info..." Ino asked, looking over into her friend's face and slurping her ramen.

Nauto shrugged, then grinned. "I showed him my ultimate Sexy no Jutsu!"

Ino rolled her eyes. "Oh god, not that waste of chakra-"

"But Ino, I use it to get rid of perverts!" Naruto protested. "When that guy was looking at your butt that one time, it worked perfectly!"

"You ever stop to think, Naruto, that a girl might LIKE it when I guy looks at her butt?" Ino glared. Naruto was taken aback.

"Why? I know I wouldn't like it if someone was staring at my butt...." Naruto said, and nodded. "My Sexy no Jutsu got rid of him!"

Ino rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless, Naruto..." Then she leaned over and hugged him. "And that's why you're my best guy!"

Turning back to her ramen, she said, "Even if you're clueless about Sasuke-kun."

Naruto grumbled into his ramen and he dipped his head closer to the bowl.

"Sasuke-kun is NOT a pale, ugly bastard, Naruto!" Ino punched his shoulder, causing him to sputter and cough. Once he stopped, he glared at her.

"What?" She grinned. "You had to learn your lesson somehow!"

He just frowned and ate ramen silently.

After a few moments, Ino asked, "Naruto... Who do you think will be on our team? Shikamaru?"

Naruto shook his head, and raised it up from the bowl. "I hope not. I mean, there's worse, like getting Sasuke, but... Shikamaru never does anything!"

Ino groaned and rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, I forgot that... The ability he has to do absolutely nothing in a crisis is astonishing. What do you think about Chouji?"

"I dunno... Hmmm... Guess we get who we get. As long as we're in the same team, I'll be fine, I guess," Naruto shrugged. "Who do you want, Ino?"

"Well... I was hoping for Sasuke-kun-"

"Should've expected that."

"But really..." Ino dipped her head to her ramen. "As long as I'm there to save your butt, we'll be fine, right?"

"Mhm!" Naruto nodded.

----

Iruka sighed, looking over the large group of students in front of him. Time to let go of yet another class... of course, most didn't pass, but still... He scanned the class, hoping the sensei's he'd picked would be good to them. He hadn't known many of them, and none very well save for one.

"Team One! Minara Keiko! Souma Kentaro! Hyuuga Ame!"

His eyes drifted to the groanuing students. He hoped Keiko and Kentaro could work out their differences. Now, to Naruto and Ino... He was worried that-

"Team Two! Kuroma Takeshi! Kaneda Kaede! Chugi Ichiro!"

-they might not be happy with their teachers. Anything could go wrong, and he didn't really know them well. No-one could predict what would happen, their reactions-

"Team Three! Utari Kagura! Yakara Misoharu! Chiboshi Utsumi!"

-to it all would be unpredictable. He knew they'd be angry at being on separate teams, but there was nothing he could do. And his other students, how would-

"Team Four! Yamano Akari! Mitsurumi Yoshi! Utari Hikaru!"

-they do? Would they pass the stringent post-graduation tests? It would be hard, and he worried about many of them. Especially the test teams, the ones that-

"Team 5! Kouboku Ami! Kouboku Miki! Umino Haruka!

-shifted the male-female ration from 2:1 to 1:2, teams 5 and 6. His own niece was on Team 5. He hoped she could pass. He had strong confidence in her-

"Team 6! Sukiwa Kasumi! Sawa Kuno! Kukurou Fuki!"

-skills as a ninja. Team 6, however, wasn't looking good, especially with the lack of stealth skills that made up most genin work. Oh... Now the team he-

"Team 7! Uchiha Sasuke! Haruno Sakura! Uzumaki Naruto!"

-Was worried about. He saw the shocked faces on not only Ino and Naruto's faces, but a whole lot more of them. It was too late now-

"Team-"

"Iruka-sensei?" That was Sakura's voice. "Is there a mistake? Isn't Naruto..."

"No, Sakura, this is the way the teams are going. Team-"

"Iruka-sensei! What do you mean?" Ino.

"What the hell, Iruka-sensei? But..." Naruto.

"Yeah, sensei? What does that mean?" Chouji.

Iruka froze. He took in a deep breath, then opened his mouth to explain...

"Team 8! Aburame Shino! Inuzuka Kiba! Hyuuga Hinata!"

---

Iruka tried to disappear as fast as he could. He slipped out the back window, took the side streets, even entered his house through a window-

Wait... That window shouldn't have been open...

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto appeared out of the darkness of the room and yanked him from the windowsill. Caught by surprise, Iruka was pulled to the ground as Naruto sat on him. He looks angry.

"Sensei, what the hell was that? I'm with Shikamaru and Chouji? Naruto with Sasuke-kun and Sakura? What were you smoking when you made THAT mistake? I demand you fix it RIGHT now."

Ino was standing in the doorway, from what Iruka could hear. She sounded angry.

"Naruto, I can't breath. Get off me and I'll explain everything."

Iruka sat up as Naruto tripped over a chair.

"Ino, the light's over there. Anyways... Okay, you two, I did put you in the same team originally, with Chouji..." Iruka blinked as the light came in. Naruto sat up.

"You mean, it isn't your fault? Just tell me who did it, I'll kill them!"Naruto cheered, grinning. Iruka hadn't betrayed him!

"Well... Then Ino's parents-" Iruka could hear something breaking, "Said that they'd prefer the old InoShikaCho team.... And I just couldn't say no..."

"Why not, Iruka-sensei?" Ino asked, irritated that her own family would stoop so low. "You could have told him the team would screw up, which it will, and that the three of us are horrible at the InoShikaChou maneuver, which we are, and that me and Naruto are the best fighting together, which we are..."

"Ino... They're parents. They could probably get me fired. if they wanted. Also, you two have to learn that you can't always be on the same team. When you get to Chuunin, then Jounin or ANBU or Hunter-nin, you don't choose your partners. I know that these teams are a disaster too, but I can't do anything about it. Now, here's the info on your teachers..."

After a few seconds, they took the pieces of paper and grinned.

"Thanks, 'Ruka-sensei!" They chanted. He waved them out the door.

'Now, for my dinner...'

-Ende- 


	4. Chapter Three: Disconnection

-  
Friends By Alden-san Chapter 3: Disconnection ----------------------------------

He was gone.

Ino narrowed her eyes in annoyance, and pumped herself higher. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke-kun had gone off with their new sensei. They had a REAL mission, Naruto had crowed, not a crappy D-class. While Ino, stuck with Chouji and Shikamaru, was stuck with her loser of a sensei.

Yes, she'd met her sensei - Sarutobi Asuma, high-class lazy-ass, only outdone by Shikamaru. Those two lazed around constantly playing old-man games, while Chouji munched. Ino wasn't the training-obsessing type, but some of Naruto's determined spirit had rubbed off on her, she guessed. So, what did she do?

She usually left her group, muttering darkly and stomping off to the forest to practise her secret jutsu: the Kage Bunshin. Yes, she'd finally mastered it.

At least,she'd mastered performing it. How hard could it be to get more than one clone without fainting? She pumped her feet, shooting herself back into the air. As she'd found out earlier that evening, VERY hard. She almost fainted when she conjured one, how would she get so many out like Naruto did?

She swore she'd have two by the time he came back. If he got to parade off to Wave Country, then she'd do something interesting too. Her feet touched the ground again, and she pushed off again. Annoyance made this swing a common retreat for Ino. The only place she felt at peace, now, was in the air.

How could HE have a mission before her, without her? It just wasn't fair! It was her parents' faults, that's right! If they hadn't...

Ino sighed. What could she do now? Her team was lame, she wasn't talking to her parents, talking to pretty much all of her friends would be awkward, since most of them didn't even pass the sensei test. The rest would be with their teams of actually bearable people. She had no place at her home, with her team, with her friends. Her best friend in the world, her one true love, and the boy who she'd decidedly adopted in her mind as her brother were gone, leaving the village boring.

The world had seemed a lot brighter a month or two ago...

Well, all she could do was work on her jutsu's. She couldn't spend her whole time on Kage Bunshin, could she? So she spent almost an hour working on a fire jutsu her father had showed her, not coming any closer than when she'd started to making fire come from her hands.

That was when she realised she had screwed up one of the seals, using the Dragon seal instead of the Tiger (resulting in her doing a completely different justsu, which would require different chakra placement and focus to work anyway). This resulted in her being severely annoyed and exhausted for the second time that day.

Naruto had left yesterday. Today, she'd almost not bothered waking up. Was it even worth it? Everyone, everything was boring now. Sure, she'd dreamed of becoming a ninja and impressing Sasuke for years... She'd had this dream for far longer than that, though. Ever since her father had told her dashing stories of her grandfather, her uncles, her father himself with his teammates. She'd grown up on tales of bravery, courage, and good luck.

Meeting Sasuke had only pushed her further to become great. He was so mysterious, so beautiful, so strong... He was, in a nutshell, perfect. He had a tragic past, even!

Unfortunately, that turned him into a major turn-off, because after his traumatic event he ignored everyone. Including Ino.

No-one, not even Uchiha Sasuke, was allowed to ignore Yamanaka Ino.

Ino had taken a hit to her pride the day Uchiha Sasuke had shooed her away with a flick of his hand and an annoyed glare. Most male genin, even despite their tender age, would at least describe Ino as 'pretty'. Some also might say 'mean', 'scary' or even 'evil', but those are first-year academy students for you.

Now, Ino lay in the middle of the forest, too exhausted to move, barely able to breath. Her chakra was ebbing, and her head was throbbing. Her eyes focused high above her, landing on fluffy white shapes. Watching the clouds... Damn, next she'd be playing Go and having old boring men obsess over her.

Damn, now she was being bitter. She hated being- No, she REFUSED to be bitter over her sensei's blatant favouritism. But... how could lazy-ass Shikamaru be favourite? When she was prettier, stronger, sexier... Who needed Asuma, though? She was fine by herself. Who needed them?

Still... Ino hated that life sucked now. How did life start being so un-fun? Her mother was even more distant, and worse, her father was trying to pry into her life even more; Her teammates had seemed to lose all sense of life, preferring Shougi and BBQ respectively more than her; The village, which seemed to have become more enclosing than before if possible; and her own personal life, which had shriveled up into nothing. She was just another kunoichi, another genin to most people. That was almost worse than being an academy student.

All she could do now was train... And her sensei, who was supposed to help, just told her to 'go practise your Shintenshin, Ino...'

What the hell?

She hated it so much... She needed to take matters into her own hands. She needed a real sensei. A kunoichi, someone who didn't dislike kids, one with some time on her hands and wouldn't mind. Someone who was probably training genins anyways.

Hinata mentioned a kunoichi teacher...

---

Ino bit her lip as she strode towards the field she knew Hinata's team used for practise. She hadn't paid attention to her team members, or met their sensei. She just hoped the woman was forgiven, and the guy were bearable. This was usually too much to ask, but Ino hoped, just once...

All hope of this escaped Ino in an instant: Inuzuka Kiba. Not exactly a hateful sight, but undoubtedly a nuisance. She'd 'benefited' from his remarks the numerous times she'd been to Sakura's house.

Oh yes, the two were well acquainted.

The others were unecognisable, other than Hinata of course. She'd met pretty much every Jounin in the village through her dad, so she guessed the one with the really nice red eyes was a new Jounin. The other boy was the quiet one in the corner of the room... Shino? Shiro? Anyways, if the woman allowed her to study with them, she'd learn about them quick enough. Ino was willing even to bear Kiba every day to actually -learn- something.

She gripped her hands to her sides, her body filled with tension, wondering whether she'd let her train with them. Why not, it was just another genin, a chance to test her students on someone she wouldn't have to teach later, right?

Of course, Ino would only appear in training, and only if... the sensei... allowed her to. Ino wondered about the sensei - Kunoichi either went for genjutsu or ninjutsu. Either way, Ino could learn something from her, if she were willing to teach. She just hoped that was the case - What teacher could turn away a willing student?

Ino's breath quickened as she came closer to the group. The woman was watching all three of her students spar together, and it was interesting, though Ino could have predicted two-thirds of the fight: Kiba rushing in to fight, Hinata backing off more, but the other guy... He was just blocking Kiba's strikes almost effortlessly. Kiba had the fire in his eyes of a fighter. Ino saw it all the time in Naruto - Kiba had a formidable spirit.

"Ummm... Excuse me..." Ino approached the Jounin, feeling awkward. Ino always was awkward in front of adults, it was something good children did, and that's how Ino had been raised. She damned this fault, it unfitting her normal personality... She hoped it wouldn't ruin her chances.

The Jounin looked at her, unsurprised. Even if Ino had tried stealth, the woman would have pinpointed her easily. Ino was slightly mollified that she didn't embarrass herself trying to 'sneak up' on the Jounin. Hinata's sensei spoke suddenly.

"I'm Yuuhi Kurenai... And you are?" Kurenai had a nice voice, Ino decided. Her clothes were a bit mismatched, but with a pulled together look. She took a breath in, and spoke. "Ummm... Kurenai-san... I was wondering..."

"Yes?" Kurenai asked, almost impatiently.

"I was wondering if I could train with you and your team sometimes... I mean, my sensei and teammates are useless, and I know I might be a burden but just give me a chance and besides I'm the only one who can spur Hinata into doing anything plus-" Ino's magnificent run-on sentence was stopped as Kurenai shifted her position. She sighed. Ino feared the worst.

"Name?" Was she going to report her for annoying her team?

"Yamanaka Ino, Yuuhi-san..." Ino bowed her head, closing her eyes shut.

"You... You say you know Hinata?" Kurenai asked, and Ino nodded her head. Kurenai called Hinata over, and Ino raised her head to look.

"Ino? What are you doing here? What about..." Hinata seemed confused. Kiba and the other boy continued to spar behind the three.

"You know this girl, Hinata? Is she a worthwhile fighter? You think she should train with us?" Kurenai asked, and after all of Hinata's nods and praises of Ino, she stopped.

"Alright, Ino. I met your father, he's a good guy. And Hinata gives you a good review... I only just met my team, but I know they're trustworthy. I just need to know a bit about you..."

---

"Bye, Kurenai-san... May I call you Kurenai-sensei? I mean, because..." Ino asked, , trying to smile. Kurenai smiled.

"Sure... Ino. Are you coming back tomorrow?" Kurenai asked.

"Mhm, yeah... Unless my sensei and teammates actually start training- Which I doubt. You don't mind me training with your group... Do you?" Ino asked hopefully. Kurenai shrugged and turned to her group.

"You three mind?" Kurenai asked. "I mean, we've only been training for two weeks anyways, so we don't have a concrete training schedule, so..."

"I... I would like Ino to.. to join us in training, if it's not too much, Kurenai-sensei. She's a really good fighter... And if her team isn't helping her..."

"I don't want HER here!" Kiba shouted, acknowledging their acquaintance for the first time since the practise started. "She's... well... Eugh, alright..."

Ino was definitely confused. What would make Kiba suddenly change his mind- Ahhhh... Hinata, Ino decided, must be the reason. She'd noticed what the others hadn't. the subtle clues that even many ninja would be hard-pressed to spot... But Ino, who had spent her whole life with kids her own age, knew the secret signs when even the person themself didn't even know for sure.

"Shino?" Kurenai turned her head to look at the third member of their team, someone even Ino hadn't gleaned much from. Mystery boy...

Shino just nodded, and Ino smiled. The three had been good at practise today, and if she got that kind of workout even every few days she'd improve a lot.

"Bye, Kurenai-sensei! Bye Hinata! ... And Kiba, and Shino!" She called,as she headed off down the path back to the village.

Hey, she couldn't be the only one left alone without Naruto. Someone hadn't treated them to ramen in a while... She had a stop to make at Iruka-sensei's house... And some ramen to eat...

---

"Iruka-sensei... When's Naruto getting back? I mean, he left two days ago, so he won't be too long, will he?" Ino asked, annoyedly swirling her ramen around the bowl.

"Ino... Wave Country's a while away. He may be gone for as long as three months..."Iruka said quietly, raising some ramen noodles to his mouth and curling them around his tongue.

"What do you MEAN, three months!?" Ino screamed, grabbing Iruka's shoulder. "They're gonna be gone for three months!?"

Iruka swallowed, unfazed by Ino's screaming. "I said, up to three months. They could, possible, be back in two months... If they got back in one, it wouldn't be good, Ino."

"What do you mean by that?" Ino asked, calming down, but still annoyed.

"Because that would mean they never made it to Wave Country, and that they failed. No-one can make it to Wave Country and back in a month, especially with a client."

"Oh... That sucks..." Ino muttered, looking down into her ramen. "And they're going with a client?"

"Mhm. Tazuna, a bridgebuilder. Can't be that hard of a mission... Just a long one. Don't worry so much, Ino... Naruto Sasuke and Sakura are in the hands of a Jounin. I doubt anything will happen to them..." Iruka sounded anything but secure in this belief. If anything, he was more worried than she was. That was believable - He treated Naruto like an adopted son, and Sasuke and Sakura had only just graduated. Only weeks after they graduated, they were heading out to another country.

Poor Iruka-sensei. He needed something to keep his mind on. A mission, a project, a relationship... Ino was determined to help Iruka get through the next few months, unscathed and better than he'd been before Naruto had left!

It wasn't like she didn't have time on her hands, right? She was sure, by the end of three months, Iruka would be a happier man!  
---

"Hoy! Asuma-sensei, Shika, Chouji!" Ino yelled. "I'm gonna go train, alright?"

"Alright, Ino! We'll see you tomorrow!" Asuma replied from the picnic table he and Shikamaru were seated at. She'd been going to train with Kurenai-sensei and the rest of the team for just over a week now, and no-one had noticed.

Her training was flourishing with the other team. She sparred with Hinata usually, though Kurenai sometimes set her up against Hinata. It seemed easier for the sensei to arrange four into fights of two, instead of one three-person spar that was happening before. Ino had helped Hinata with her Gentle Fist, showing her possible dodges and moves that might work. She and Kiba were the best matches, being almost completely equal in skill, though the battles were sometimes too personal for comfort. Kurenai had even showed them a new genjutsu, even though none of them had mastered it (Shino had come close). it was obvious Kurenai was just beginning, not sure what was above them, or below them. She was trying to find an equal ground for all of them.

Shino's and Kiba's strengths were taijutsu, Ino's ninjutsu and Hinata's was more in the support jutsu's. So all the battles were interesting, though Shino usually overpowered any of them in single spars. Kiba, apparently taking Shino's strength for an attempt to take leadership, challenged him almost every day. He seemed to avoid fighting Hinata, or hitting her too hard, unlike fighting with either Shino or Ino.

Ino had only fought Shino once. They'd mostly traded blows, neither seeming to know many potent ninjutsu well enough to throw them out effortlessly during battle... Or maybe, Ino suspected, Shino only didn't because she couldn't.

She hated being pity-fought, so she avoided fighting Shino. She suspected he thought she was afraid of fighting him, and disliked him. He was very quiet, however, and Ino couldn't understand quiet people. She couldn't make him speak, at least not at length. He answered most point-blank questions briefly, at least. Ino would drag him out of his shell some day.

For now, though... Chouji was jogging after her. This certainly was odd - Not that Chouji didn't jog, but it was rare after a mission. "Ino! Ino!"

Ino turned, looking at Chouji questioningly. "Yeah, Chouji? What?"

"Can I train with you, today? I mean, Shikamaru and Asuma-sensei are playing Shougi, and..." Chouji caught up with her after a few minutes. Ino sighed.

"Chouji... I really can't- I mean... Come over here for a second..." She led him over to a bunch of trees away from the other two group members, then whispered into his ear.

"YOU'RE DOING WHAT, INO!?" Chouji yelled, as Ino shushed him. "But, but... you're in our team..."

"Yeah, but OUR team doesn't ever TRAIN!" Ino said, annoyed.

"Oh... That's right too... Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then, Ino! Can you train with us tomorrow, though? I'll get Asuma-sensei to get us to, I promise!" Chouji said quickly.

"Of course, of course, Chouji... I gotta go now. See you!" Ino said, running off and waving. Chouji sighed, making the loooong trip back...

---

"Kurenai-sensei! I'm here!" Ino called, walking towards them and waving.

"Hey, Ino!" Kurenai waved. "Hurry up! Hinata wants us to try some of her ointment!" Ino could see Hinata mumbling something self-deprecating, like 'It's not that important', and Kurenai comforting her. The girl needed a kick to the ego...

Ino jogged the last few steps before stopping and sitting with the rest of them. Kurenai passed little bottles of ointment around.

"Hinata says this can make bruises stop hurting for a bit, even if they're almost a week old..." Kurenai said, rubbing some on her arm. "This does work, Hinata! Good job!"

Ino tried it on her leg (she'd bumped it earlier). It worked! It had been annoying her all day, and it was gone! She grinned, and thanked Hinata (who only blushed and muttered something like 'It was nothing, Ino...')

"Now, Kiba, Shino, you guy's train. Hinata, Ino, you two.. I wanna test you guys on your chakra levels. That's why I need you two alone - There's a separate one for each gender. So, both of you, sit down and focus your chakra into your feet. First, though, take off your shoes and socks..."

The two sat down and outstretched their legs. Kurenai sat between them, reached out and yanked her sandals off. Her hand caught Ino's eye.

"You're not married?" Ino asked suddenly. It was odd, because ninja married young, maybe in their twenties - Because it might be their only chance. That a woman like Kurenai, unmarried and still young, meant she would be looking at least. Though, she might still be taken...

"No, not really. I thought you'd notice that, Ino. I haven't even had areal relationship in a while... Now, focus as hard as you can, I'm going to try something..." Kurenai said casually, as the two girls closed their eyes and focused. Ino suddenly heard her 'sensei's' voice above the roar in her ears of her chakra burning in her mind. "Now, lock your chakra to your toes, then try to pull the chakra, all of it, up to your neck. When you can't pull it any further, tell me where it stops..."

Ino turned her mind to the task, first locking then pulling her chakra further and further. She pulled with all her mind's might. In spite of all her effort, the chakra finally stopped around her knees. She swore as her eyes shot open.

She looked over at the other two females. Both were still pulling. Ino bit her lip, annoyed. Did that mean she had barely any chakra? Yeah right, she didn't believe THAT.

Hinata stopped suddenly, then Kurenai almost immediately after. Both looked at Ino expectantly.

"I got to my knees, alright?" Ino asked, irritatedly, looking at them. "That's it..."

"Ino, that's alright! That's where most genin get... It's really great, it means you have no lack of chakra. Hinata?" Kurenai turned to her official kunoichi student.

"I got just above my knee, a bit into my thigh, but-" Hinata waved her hands in front of her at Ino's disappointed sigh, "Only because my father's been training me in Hyuuga chakra techniques since I was three! Honestly, Ino... To the knees is really good!"

"So... How does the technique WORK, Kurenai-sensei? I mean, there's gotta be a reason it shows us our chakra levels..." Ino asked, after a reflective moment. At least I got this far... Still... I wonder how far Naruto gets? He's got a lot of chakra...'

"The legs are a hard place to use chakra flow. Using your whole base of chakra, and stretching it through the legs, shows how much you have in proportion to your age and gender. The average non-ninja can only just get to their ankles, if there. People like your mother, with limited ninja training, might get it to halfway up their calves. Ninja should have it to their knees, and above that is very good," Kurenai said, smiling. "It's good that we did this. I myself can only get to my knees, Ino, so don't look so disappointed."

Ino froze. "Really? But... those complicated jutsu..."

"That's what it is to be a ninja... And a jounin. I don't have great chakra, I just use it well - Genjutsu, after all, isn't too exhausting, just complicated."

" I see," Ino said quietly, slightly mollified. She wasn't deficient, she was just... average. It was a blow to her pride to be below Hinata, however, even though Ino wanted the best for her friend.

"Kurenai-sensei, how do you increase your chakra supply?" Ino asked.

"Increase your stamina," Was Kurenai's simple answer. Ino nodded.

"Now, You two... Kiba! Shino! We're going to learn a new jutsu! Come on over here!" Kurenai gestured the two boys over.

Suddenly, Ino remembered her promise to Chouji. "Kurenai-sensei... Is it alright if I train with my team tomorrow, but still come every day?"

"Sure, sure, Ino... Now, let's get into stance..." Kurenai nodded, then proceeded to teach her four students. And in the midst of a lesson, Ino had an idea.

It involved a very important ramen bar...

---

"Iruka-sensei? This is Yuuhi Kurenai, the Jounin leader of Team 8. I've been training with her group for the past few weeks. Kurenai-sensei, this is Umino Iruka, my academy sensei for basically my whole life. Because I got my week's salary today, I wanted to do something nice for the two people involved with pretty much my whole growth over the years. So, both of you order, I'll pay the bill," Ino said, nodding and leading her two sensei's to the Ichiraku stools.

"I... I don't know what to say..." Kurenai stammered. Iruka just nodded.

"Don't worry, it's just ramen- Oh! Iruka-sensei! I forgot, I promised Chouji I'd help him and Shikamaru with the InoShikaChou! I'm sooo sorry..."

"We'll do this some other time, then-?" Iruka started to rise, but Ino pushed him back down.

"No, no! I'll just leave some money, the rest can go on my tab and I'll pay it tomorrow. You two just sit here and enjoy yourselves! Oh, and since I didn't have a chance to give you guys these, here!" Ino slapped something on the counter of the amen bar before running off before either could speak. Iruka and Kurenai glanced down.

It was two tickets for The Lonely Fox, Konoha's biggest (and most expensive) club. Forget one week's salary, Ino must have used a whole weeks salary on EACH ticket! Iruka and Kurenai just stared at the tickets.

"Do you think she's hinting at something, Umino-san?" Kurenai looked into Iruka's face.

"Well, it would be extremely rude to refuse the tickets, especially when they were so expensive..." Iruka said, glancing at them. "What do you think, Yuuhi-san? I haven't been to a club in years..."

"Neither have I... Though, let's eat a bowl of ramen to seal the deal. Ino offered it, and she'd be disappointed if we didn't eat, I think..." Kurenai said, glancing at the man waiting for their order.

"One shrimp and miso for me, then," Iruka said the the man. "Yuuhi-san?"

"One pork and vegetable, please," She ordered, then turned to Iruka. "if we're doing this, we should call each other by our first names, right... Iruka-san?"

"Alright... Kurenai-san?"

Clunk! Their two bowls hit the counter...

---

Daylight filtered in through almost-closed curtains, flickering across the floor. The small apartment had seen cleaner mornings than this, as there were clothes and random objects scattered about the bedroom. A pair of eyes fluttered open, and the woman turned to the man, waking him with a kiss, surprised at her own initiative. "Wake up, Iruka-kun..."

Iruka's eyes flickered open, and a small, awkward smile crept onto his face as he looked up into Kurenai's beautiful crimson eyes. His head was pounding, but he could barely notice. The most beautiful woman he had ever met had stayed with him for a whole night, without leaving or sighing... It had been awkward first, knowing eachother only barely, but as the night had continued they'd grown closer.

He hadn't expected it. She hadn't expected it. The most unique feeling in his chest, the music pounding, one or two light drinks, nothing major... It had been beautiful. She was beautiful.

He was struck silent, then sat up. Kurenai kissed him on the cheek, and said, "Where were we?"

Then both of them realised... If the sun was shining...

"I only have half an hour before class! Iruka said, horrified.

"Forget that, I have to meat my team in ten minutes!" Kurenai said, shocked. The two leapt out of the bed, hurriedly pulling on their clothing. Not sure whose apartment it even was, they stumbled around the room gathering odds and ends from eachothers' pockets. Iruka pulled Kurenai's head-protector from inside his pantleg and threw it to her. She gave him back his wallet.

"Is this your apartment?" They both asked eachother at the same time.

"I... live in a house," Iruka said.

"I have a nicer apartment than this," Kurenai said.

Iruka checked his pockets, and found a key with a note. 'Kakashi's spare key - Apartment 23a in the Mitsubochi building. Naruto gave it to me. Enjoy!'

He just sighed and smiled, handing it to Kurenai. "Just like Ino, ne?"

"Iruka... I know this is a bit to ask, but... You wanna do this again, maybe somewhere not so hectic? Sometime soon... Maybe tomorrow night?" Kurenai threw her arms around his shoulders.

"Maybe... dinner at Hokage Place, I hear the buffet is worth the price. My treat, this time," Iruka said, smiling.

"Then.. See you tomorrow, Iruka-kun..." Kurenai kissed him lightly on the lips, then disappeared into smoke. Iruka stood, looking at the ground for almost five minutes. It was the first relationship he'd had in almost a year, and the last one hadn't ended well either. Were he and Kurenai jumping into something too quick?

Well, there was only one thing he could do now. Take it from Hokage Place, see how it spun out.

Then, he jumped out the window. All on his mind now was getting to class before the bell!

-End Chapter Three- 


	5. Chapter Four: Training

-  
Friends By Alden-san Chapter Four: Training ------------------------

Sounds of fighting could be heard from a small clearing as Kurenai's three students fought. Kiba, Shino and Hinata were all jumping, attacking, defending... And to the side, two figure were talking quietly. Ino had come late from her team's own practise, which had fit Kurenai's plans perfectly... She wanted to talk.

"You set us up, didn't you, Ino? Don't lie, I know that you programmed the whole thing..." Kurenai whispered to her 'student', sighing. "Ino, I'm really confused why you did this, set us up to be together-"

"-I made sure you had a chance to quit if you wanted to-" Ino interjected.

"-But I wanna thank you or what you did. My lovelife wasn't a high priority on my list to worry about, so you helped me out. I know it was an extremely manipulating thing you did, but that only shows a ninja skill used in it's own context. Ino... Thank you," Kurenai smiled.

"What? Really? What did happen, anyways? Did it turn out alright?" Ino asked, leaning forwards, interest clearly showing on her face.

"Go practise, Ino... Hey, guys! Rest for a few seconds, Ino's gonna join the fight!" Kurenai called to her team, grinning at Ino. "You're not the only one who can put people into awkward situations, Ino. Show'em what you got, maybe Kiba will stop calling you a blondie, ne?"

Ino's eyes blazed with determination. "Yes, sensei!" She said, smiling and jumping towards her 'group members', getting into stance. The four got into position.

"This'll be easy... Shino, I'll show who's leader today! Blondie, don't even think of getting in the way. You too, Hinata, don't get yourself hurt!" Kiba yelled, facing Shino (who declined to mention that he'd been beating Kiba all day, and still had yet to be much impressed).

"GO!" Kurenai swung her hand down. Hinata hesitated, stepping back. Kiba shot towards Shino, but Ino intercepted him.

"Where you think you're going, puppy? Afraid you'll have to take a trip to the vet if ya face me?" Ino grinned, getting into her taunting mode, something she enjoyed greatly.

"Blondie, if you're ever a match for me I'll go kill myself," Kiba snarled, shooting forwards with a punch, Ino dodged both the fist and a bite from Akamaru, hiding in Kiba's hood. Ino grinned.

"Your dog came closer to hitting me than you ever will, Kiba. I think I should fight him instead, probably get a decent fight..." Ino said, throwing a kunai that Kiba lumped away from. Kiba blazed with fury - Sibling rivalry, in a way. Akamaru was NOT a better fighter than he was!

He shot forwards, punching out at her. She jumped straight over him, kicking his back and shooting him towards Shino. Turning his momentum to his advantage, he turned the punch into a horizontal kick, shaking Shino's guarding arm. The two proceeded to fight, ignoring Ino completely.

"Eugh, I won't be ignored!" Ino made a flurry of handseals, charged by adrenaline's surge of chakra. She completed the final seal, and POOF! Not one, but TWO Ino's stood behind her. Ino turned, looking confused.

"Two? But I-"

"-Can only do-"

"-One...?" All three spoke at the same time. Ino just sighed and said, "Don't worry about it. Let's just fight, alright? Try not to get yourselves killed too quickly, alright?"

"Roger that, Ino-sama!" The clones yelled, saluting. Kurenai sat up, eyes wide and staring at what she'd just seen - Two bunshins actually talking and saluting? And why did Ino look so drained?

The two bunshins raced forwards, taking each boy by surprise with a blow to the face. Both fell over, looking up in confusion.

"What the hell!?" Kiba said, jumping onto his feet. Akamaru barked from his hood in surprise. "Ino, there's two of you!?"

"Three," Ino said from right behind him. Wire wrapped around his torso before he could react, as Ino fell backwards, grasping the back of his coat, pulling him with her, and kicked the boy away from her. He rolled a few feet, before stopping, and looking up, dazed. He pulled his kunai from his waist, cutting at the wire. It wouldn't cut. He swore. At least it didn't restrict him, right?

Then she tied the other end of it to a tree.

"DAMN!" Kiba swore, trying in vain to remove his coat. "Akamaru, you can get out, right?" Akamaru barked assent, and jumping from the coat. "You can bite it, can't you?"

The two worked hard at trying to get through the wire, cutting for a good two minute, dodging random projectiles thrown his way.

Meanwhile, Shino had been dodging attacks from both Kage Bunshin, until finally giving a blow to one. It disappeared in a puff of smoke. He finally destroyed the second, just as a kunai flew towards him. He dodged it easily, then looked around for Ino.

He suddenly looked right at her. How had he spotted her? She shook herself, trying to free herself of any bugs. It was of no use, though, as Shino leapt up into the tree she was hiding. She dodged most of his hits, being hit more often than she enjoyed, barely getting a hit in. Then she grabbed a kunai, blocking one of his attacks with the handle, then leapt back down to ground level.

"Gotcha, blondie!" Kiba yelled as she appeared from above. She twirled to avoid him, dropping the kunai, but he grabbed her ankle and pulled, causing her to fall. She twisted away from him, but not before...

"Oh no..." Ino sighed, feeling the wire slip around her ankle. Kiba grinned, and pulled. Ino fell, just as Shino came down from the trees, She twisted away, landing on one foot. Kiba pulled her foot in the air, tipping her balance, but she landed on one hand and pulled, hard, with her foot. The end of the wire slipped from Kiba's grasp- But Shino attacked Ino just as she regained the wire. She ducked the first attack, but he hit her shoulder- and grabbed the end of the wire.

She swore, pulling out new wire, and held the loop just as Shino aimed at her face. He kicked. She went flying towards Kiba, pulling the loop taut and tripping Shino as she flew. He flipped, reversing the momentum and bringing her flying towards him, landing on his wire-looped foot... Then tripping on the fallen kunai. Kiba fell to the ground, after hitting a tree. This was when Akamaru reappeared, flying from the trees and latching onto the fallen Shino's arm, biting his wrist viciously as Shino tried to get up..

Ino flew into the trees when Shino didn't stop her momentum by his planned attack, pulling the awkwardly positioned (he was getting up) Shino and Akamaru with her... right into Hinata.

---

"Owowow..." Hinata muttered, holding her sleeve up and wincing as Kiba, shaking nervously, rubbed some of Hinata's ointment over the bruise.

"It's okay, it's okay, Hinata... It doesn't hurt that much now, does it?" Kiba asked hopefully. "Just in case those three get it in their heads to fly at you again..." He gestured his head towards the three guilty ones.

"Hey, We SAID we were sorry! Are you okay, Hinata?" Ino asked from a few feet away. She didn't get any closer... She had a feeling Kiba was in one of his 'protective' moods.

"We are sorry, Hinata..." Shino said quietly, and Akamaru barked.

"She can't understand YOU, Akamaru..." Kiba muttered, rubbing a bit harder, as Hinata winced again. "Sorry, Hinata!"

"It- It's alright, Kiba-kun..." Hinata murmured. "Thank you... for looking after me... My wounds, I mean..."

Kiba almost blushed, grinning. "It's nothing, Hinata! It's fine..."

Ino smiled at the two. It was almost too cute to bear. She was surprised - Even dogboy had a heart, after all. She looked around: at Shino, who was doing nothing; Kurenai, who was checking her nails; and Akamaru who was just sitting there looking annoyed. Finally he barked, jumping up and glaring at Hinata. Kiba smacked him over the head.

"Akamaru!" Kiba yelled, as the two glared at eachother. After a few seconds of growling on both sides, the two faced the opposite ways. Hinata's eyes widened.

"Please don't fight because of me!" Hinata waved her hands around. Kiba immediately turned her way, tone softening. "It's not about you, Akamaru's just got a stick up his ass about us not using our jutsu..."

Akamaru barked, glaring at Kiba. This was an obvious lie, but one that made Hinata stop stressing at least. Kiba smiled. "Don't worry about Akamaru an' me. Worry about yourself! At least if your IN the fight you have a reason to be hurt! Why were you lurking there? Hinata..." Kiba sighed. "I worry about you, idiot! Just... don't get hurt, alright?"

"A-a-alright, Kiba-kun..." Hinata looked down. Kiba looked horrified with himself.

"No, no, no Hinata! I just mean, don't get yourself in troublesome spots... You gotta get out there, fight! I know you'd be awesome if you worked a bit, right? Who cares if you aren't the fastest learner? You've gotta be one of the best strategists in the class! Just gotta go for the goal!" Kiba pumped his fist into the air, grinning. "Try it, Hinata! Hiya!"

"Hi... Hiya!" Hinata shoved her fist into the air, smiling. "Thank you, Kiba-kun!"

"No problem... We gonna fight again? Hinata, you sit this one out. You've got bruises all over. Let's go!" Kiba jumped up.

---

Ino wrapped the chain around her fist, breathing a bit harder. The wire had worked, but it hadn't moved as easily as thin chain would. Swinging it, she shot the weighted end against the tree, pulled it back, shot it again by pulling it back again, harder.

Ten, twenty, thirty times she did this, until the tree had a significant dent in it. She grinned, proud of herself. Now, to try something else. She pulled more chain out from her belt, swinging it into the trees and snagging a branch. Then she jumped, quickly tying the other end onto a kunai's handle. Swinging from the makeshift swing-rope, she twisted in different contortions, trying kicks, punches, seals and jutsu while swinging. She was going to master these chains, and be the one with an unexpected fighting style at the Chuunin exams in just a month. Naruto had been gone for two months, and she was worried whether his team would make it back in time.

She swung, throwing, kicking, punching in different directions, trying to find the perfect grip. She'd bought chain gloves, too, from her weekly genin money. They could withstand more jutsu, sword strokes, and they hurt like hell when someone else got hit with them. They were some of the best on the market, too. Since her parents still provided for her, she could buy pretty much whatever - Her mother's shop and father's Jounin pay covered any expenses.

Then she practised some blocks with the short sword her father bought her as a graduation present - a short sword, but useful. She knew she'd never master it by the exams, but she could at least learn some blocks, right? She practised these for another hour, her mind becoming bored with it long before that. But what if she had to fight Sakura? If Sakura had a sword, then she should be able to defend herself, right?

Ino's training schedule had become more rigorous, longer, tougher since Naruto left. She hated it, but it was all she could do now. Sakura wasn't here, Sasuke-kun wasn't,. Naruto wasn't.

WHY wasn't he there with her? Why had he run off to to an important mission while she got stuck with a team she never even PRACTISED with? Why? WHY?

She punched the log harder, and harder, muttering swear words under her breath. She was stuck here with boring missions, boring training... At least she had an interesting team to train WITH. Even dogboy was growing on her.

Speaking of him... He was here? She turned around to see him and his dog walking towards her, with a determined face. "Hey, blon- Ino!"

Ino? He must want something, she decided, jogging towards him. Her hand had started to hurt anyways. She finally stopped in front of him. "What do you want, dog- Kiba? This isn't exactly your stretch of the forest, is it?"

"Truce, alright?" He said suddenly, shooting his hand out.

"What?" Ino was taken aback. Was THIS what he'd come here for? A truce?

"I mean, Kurenai-sensei gets annoyed when we fight all the time, and Hinata doesn't like it, and... well... I respect you now, okay?" Kiba sighed. "Damn, I didn't want to tell you that, now you'll get all high and might on my ass. I don't LIKE you that much, but... you are a better fighter than I thought.

"Same here, dogboy. How 'bout a shake on mutual respect?"Ino said, holding her own hand out. Kiba nodded, and took her hand in a shake. Then the chains in the trees caught his eyes, both of which widened.

"Chains!?" Kiba looked horrified. "You're a sadist, you know that, blondie."

"I do believe I am," Ino grinned, then quirked her mouth. "You know, since Naruto's gone, I have no-one to help me annoy Iruka-sensei for ramen. You like ramen, Kiba?"

Kiba grinned. "You kidding? It's gotta be my favourite food, next to meat o' course. Need a hand, I'll go for it if ramen's involved..."

Ino grinned, and the two set off on a journey: To annoy Iruka, and get some ramen!

--

"You know, I never thought you and Kiba got along, Ino..." Iruka said, pulling out some money and laying it on the counter of the ramen bar. Ino grinned, giving her orfder to the waiter-person.

"Well, when it came ti ramen, we finally agreed on somethin', ne, puppy?: She elbowed Kiba playfully. He groaned.

"No wonder your team shipped you off to us, you're a nightmare, blondie. How long's the ramen take to come, 'Ruka-sensei?" Kiba leaned onto the counter to ask his former teacher.

"About a minute... They're fast, Ichiraku guys. They pre-prepare every type of ramen for people who order it, and if any start getting cold, they eat it!" Iruka grinned. "It's quite a good system, considering most days te waiters still only maybe get a bowl each."

"I'm Ayame, and I'll be serving you for the evening. Two miso, one pork-beef-and-chicken, and three pork and miso?" She asked, laying it down on the table. Each grabbed their portions, eagerly digging into the meal. Kiba was amazed at Ino's speed.

"Eating with Naruto, you have to be fast. Otherwise any un-gotten-to ramen bowls are up for the taking, ne, 'Ruka-sensei? Remember those THREE pork ramen's he stole from you without you even noticing?" Ino smiled, as Iruka sighed.

"I remember, yeah. Luckily it was on half-off day, ne?" Iruka smiled back, laughing a little. "Naruto eats a lot..."

"Naruto... He was dead-last, right?" Kiba asked, raising an eyebrow. "How'd you become his friend, blondie? You must be a million times better than he is..."

"Not really. Just because he got low marks doesn't mean he's a bad ninja, he just... wasn't a good school-ninja. He could beat you, probably, Kiba."

"He could not! I'm a lot better than he is!" Kiba said, annoyed.

"He could beat you any day, pup-face!" Ino roared back, eyes aflame.

"Stop it, you two," Iruka said firmly, putting a hand between them. "Naruto is not here to prove anything, so... This is a useless argument."

"Eugh, I give up..." Kiba said, before returning to his depleting ramen. Iruka, seeing that Kiba had almost finished, ordered anothewr of the same kind, and seeing thatIno was also on her last bowl, called for another for her.

"So... Ino, what was this about you not training with your own team?That could be disastrous, seeing as in the Chuunin exams, teams have been known to be grouped together. You'll have to start training with them more..." Iruka said, poking Ino in the arm with the chopsticks. She rubbed her arm and pouted.

"Ow... Iruka-sensei... How about every other day? Is that better? It's not like I don;'t already do missions with them..." She asked, checking for a bruise. Iruka chuckled inwardly, then nodded.

"Much better. You only have a month until the exams, right? Work, study, and try your best! That's what I always say, ne?" Iruka smiled. "You have to be nominated by your sensei's first, and that'll be hard. The Chuunin exams are rough on first-year genin... some die, some are permanently injured... amybe you guys should skip this one..."

"NOT IN HELL!" Both genin screamed, then looked at eachother and grinned, sort of awkwardly. The 'friendship' between them was growing more sincere every moment.

"Hell yeah, Me, Shino and Hinata can make it through that thing!" Kiba said, cheering.

"The InoShikaCho never fails, right, Iruka-sensei?" Ino asked rhetorically. "My dad and his team passed as rookies, why should we be any different?"

'I can think of a few things...' Iruka thought, before shaking the thought away and smiling. "I'm sure you'll be fine!" He lied through his teeth.

They'd never make it. They'd die, or be maimed, or traumatized. The teachers wouldn't nominate rookies, though. They were safe. Let Ino and Kiba think they'll make it in...

"Well, if you two have eaten your fill, I have a few things to pick up, and a bath at home with my name on it. Then, papers with my students' names on it, which will last me all afternoon and night. So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, you too. Good night," Iruka smiled, and stood. He paid the bill, and the three split their seperate ways.

---

Ino woke up two weeks later, the sound of voices in her ears and a grin on her face. Jumping up, she looked out the window. The Chuunin Exams were in the air! Though it was still dark in the sky, the village had fixed that long ago with a large amount of streetlights, giving it the air of around noon instead of the early hours of the morning. Foreigners had been appearing for almost a week, first those from Stone and Waterfall, then their allies from the Sand. She loved the exotic feeling in the air, an air of danger and excitement. It wasn't only participants coming, spectators from all of the countries came daily.

The world was great. Ino stood, gathered some clothes, and raced into the bathroom. There she got ready: Staring into the mirror, undressing, staring in the mirror some more, showering, drying, changing, back to staring in themirror as she applied her small bits of makeup.

She'd decided a long time ago she was gorgeous. Others had started just after that.

She made her way downstairs, slipping on some indoor sandals (one simple formality her mother had decided on). They were comforatable, worn-in after two years of slipping in and out. She 'slipped' downstairs, into her family's kitchen set up behind the flower shop. Her mother was making pancakes, and her father was sitting at the table, looking as tired as always.

"Good morning, Ino-chan! Sit down, have some pancakes before your mission!" her mother smiled at her. She and her mother had an awkward relationship, her mother not approving of most things in her life and Ino disliking her mother's nosy tendacies - But they still loved eachother. They were pleasent enough, when not slighting eachother in small ways.

"Good morning, princess..." Inoshi said tiredly over the table. He was always like this before her mother pulled out the coffee (She didn't drink it, though, swore it murdered your insides. But she knew what a ninja's life was like, so permitted her family to drink it).

Ino grinned as her mother brought over the coffee. Her parents allowed her a tiny cup in the morning, to keep her awake through the day. Then, she wolfed down her pancakes (her unhealthy food for the week) and raced out to meet her team... And bumped into Shikamaru.

"Uzumaki's back, Ino," he said lazily. "Uchiha and Sakura too."

- End Chapter Four- 


	6. Chapter Five: Doubt

-  
Friends  
By Alden-san  
Chapter Five: Doubt  
-

"I'm so glad we'll be home soon, Sasuke-kun..." Sakura murmured, slipping closer and smiling hopefully. "Being home, after all that walking, ne? I haven't seen my house in three months... It'll be beautiful..."

She smiled at the thought of her house, but was frozen by his yet-again cold behaviour. Would she never melt his layer of ice? She was determined, but her resolve failed sometimes when she felt doubt. What if... What if she couldn't heal him, if he was beyond her reach? What if she could never prove herself to him?

She felt disgusted with herself. 'Even with this sword, I can't defend the people I love...' she thought sighing, her hand rubbing the handle. Naruto turned to her with a worried face, pouting.

"Sakura-chan, what's wrong?" He asked, leaning over to look at her. She sighed again.

"Nothing, Naruto... We'll be there soon, right, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked hopefully, smiling. She definitely needed a shower! Naruto nodded, and Sasuke just... sort of grunted.

"We'll be there in a few minutes actually... see down there?" Kakashi pointed down the large hill they'd just reached the top of. They could just see the village poking out from the middle of the forest. Both Sakura and Naruto cheered, and even Sasuke's tension lifted somewhat. Sakura grinned, running a few steps ahead and drinking in the familiar air of her own country.

'I'm so glad to be back...' Sakura smiled, twirling around once and dropping down the hill at a fast pace. She looked up to see familiar faces. Her parents, Ino, Shikamaru, various other friends all stood by the gate, waiting as the group (or Naruto and Sakura, at least) broke out into a fast run towards the village.

"Not glad to be home, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked his pupil, looking at his from the corner of his eye. Sasuke frowned.

"You should know of all people I have nothing to go home to, Kakashi..." Sasuke said quietly, before walking a bit faster. Soon, Kakashi was left to himself, and his students were being greeted.

"Mum, Dad!" Sakura grinned as her father picked her up and swung her around.

"Oh, Saku, I was sooooo worried about you!" Her mother leaned down, hugging her daughter close. "I'm not a ninja, but I know they end up in a lot of dangerous situation... Come on home, have lunch and a shower, tell us all about your adventures..."

Sakura grinned, and tossed a look to the approaching Kakashi, who was speaking to a Jounin that had come up to them. Naruto, who was in the process of hugging Ino, noticed Sakura and followed her glance.

"You three go... But tomorrow we have regular mission and training. Ja!" Kakashi grinned as he disappeared in a burst of smoke.

Sakura smiled, glad for the day off. But... The whole village seemed excited, tense, strange. Ino was grinning widely, though that would normally fit when her three favourite people had just come back, it also made her think...

She headed over to where Naruto and Ino were talking. She smiled at the two.

"Ino, do you know what's going on?" Sakura asked, curious. "Was something mentioned while we were gone?"

"Sakura..." Ino sighed. "You honestly don't know what it is? You don't know what almost every genin in the village has been obsessing over, well, since graduation? The CHUUNIN EXAMS are in TEN DAYS!"

Sakura's eyes widened. "Oh, I remember! We can become Chuunin... Ino, my team's going to become chuunins before your's ever does!"

"Yeah right, Sakura. InoShikaChou vs. you three? I think you only have a chance 'cause you got Sasuke-kun on your team! And Naruto might help with the awesome jutsu he learned, but other than that, you don't have a chance!" Ino crowed.

Sakura smiled, and sighed. "Well, let's just hope we all make it, then. It'd be disgraceful if someone in either of our teams failed, ne?"

Ino nodded, grinning. "Exactly. Well, we've got all day, wanna grab something to eat? Ichiraku's open..."

Sakura smiled. "What about the rest of the gang? Wanna get everybody for a big lunch?"

Ino's grin faded into an identical smile. "Definitely."

-

"Thank you for the reports, Kakashi-san. Ummm... How is Naruto doing...? I mean..." Iruka leaned over the counter, interested in what the teacher could tell him as he took the Wave Mission report. "I've been rather busy, lately, and I didn't see much of him when he got back. I only had time to catch a peek of him, not really any time to talk to him... So... How is he? And with his teammates?"

"He's fine himself... and working with his teammates? As you know, he's in the team with Uchiha Sasuke. He sees Sasuke as a rival, and the two's relations are strained, but they are improving greatly. They may surpass you soon, Iruka," Kakashi said, with a hint of smugness in his voice.

Iruka faked a smile, recoiling from the insult inwardly. "Is that so? And how is Sakura?"

"She... She's the one with problems of the group. She and Naruto bicker a bit, but her obsession with Sasuke may get her killed sometime. Her genjustu and her sword skills are developing, and her chakra control is perfect, but she still has problems. She may not, in the end, rise much higher than Chuunin level without hard, hard work. I'm really not sure how to handle her..." Kakashi said, looking disappointed.

"Well, Kakashi-san, teachers sometimes have to encourage their flailing students and ignore their stars to ensure success, you do know that, right? You won't ignore Sakura, or Naruto either, just because Sasuke might be more trainable, easier to handle, at a closer level to you, ne?" Iruka's voice was not only encouraging, but critical. This annoyed Kakashi to no end - He refused to be criticized by some weak little schoolteacher!

"I'll do my best. But remember, these three are no longer your Academy students, they are my responsibility. I've never had a team before, but I doubt I can fail with these three. They ARE the first to pass my test, remember?"

Those were Kakashi's last words before he turned his back on Iruka's answer, leaving the room. Kakashi didn't see it, but the rest of the room could have noticed Iruka's eyes hardening slightly after their meeting.

-

Again, the large group of friends sat together under the trees, eating a seemingly random array of food. Tenten sat with Sakura, the two muttering incoherently under a tall tree. Naruto and Ino were training, or doing something at least that involved hitting eachother. Shikamaru was trying, slowly but surely, to teach Chouji to play Shougi.

"It is good to be back..." Sakura murmured, having showered, eating and drank to her hearts delight, though she drew the line somewhere (she was on a diet, after all - Though after all that travel, the diet seemed almost extravagant). "It feels weird, though... Like I've grown up a bit, somehow..."

"That is how it feels with your first real mission, isn't it? You guys are lucky - Gai-sensei made us wait almost half a year before we got any useful missions. It was irritating... What exactly happened in Wave Country, Sakura? You seem..." Tenten avoided the word 'depressed', though it sprang to mind. Tenten had seen Sakura briefly when she'd returned, she'd seemed happy then... Had something happened... Or had she been thinking?

"It's just... so many things happened on that trip, Tenten... It was so much to think about, for me. It was really the first time I've had a serious fight..." Something in her tone told Tenten what she found was less than comforting. Tenten patted her on the back.

"What exactly happened, there?" she asked, looking at Sakura. "You've been mopey since you got back..."

"Yeah... I've been doing some thinking, is all..." Sakura's voice faded away as she watched her hand play with some grass near her feet. Tenten grumbled inwardly, annoyed at Sakura's vague answers, but guessing why her general cheeriness was shattered.

"Sakura?" Tenten touched Sakura's shoulder, and Sakura looked up at her. Tenten nodded. "You're a great ninja, Sakura. You just gotta develop... I know I was useless after Academy, but look where I am now?" Tenten grinned, and threw a kunai. It speared a falling leaf through the centre.

"You just gotta find your element, right?"

-

"You've been assembled here for only one reason. It should be obvious by the members here."

The Third Hokage's voice rang out through the room, breaking the expectant silence. The gathered Chuunins, Jounins, Special Jounins, and ANBU all hung on his word. once he broke the silence, however, a mumbling of conversation flowed.

"It's already that time..." Kakashi murmured, patting his pocket and thinking about his students, hoping they were ready for his decision.

"It's already been reported to the other countries, I saw them in the village. I;'ve heard rumours, ten days, a week, four days... so when is it?" Another Jounin, Genma, added.

The Hokage paused for a moment. "In a week," he said decidedly, pulling the necessary paperwork from one of his desks folders and watching the rippling reactions.

"Wow, that soon?" A Jounin asked, hesitant to contradict his superior. The Hokage smiled.

"Well, I'll announce it properly. 7 days from now, on the first day of the seventh moon, the Chuunin Selection Exam will commence!"The Hokage smiled, watching the various parties of the room as they prepared themselves.

"First," he said, breaking the noise of shuffling papers and clicking pens " We will hear from those watching over newly graduated genins. Now..."

The three recent Jounin sensei's stepped up: Team 7's captain and sensei, Hatake Kakashi, leading Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto; Team 8's captain and sensei, Yuuhi Kurenai, leading Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba; and team 10's captain and sensei, Sarutobi Asuma, leading Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino.

"Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, are there any genins you wish to nominate for this exam?" The Hokage asked, his eyes smiling. "I don't need to tell you this, but a genin must have successfully completed 8 missions to qualify, at which point they may be nominated by their sensei. Now... Starting with Kakashi..."

Iruka sighed from his desk, looking up at the three sensei's: Kakashi, Naruto's team leader and the one Iruka disapproved of; Kurenai, Ino's preferred sensei and Iruka's 'girlfriend', though lover might be the more appropriate term; and Asuma, the sensei Ino almost completely rejected, exclaiming her annoyance at whom almost daily. None of them would be foolish enough...

"Team 7, led by Kakashi: Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura. Under the name of Hatake Kakashi, I nominate these three for the Chuunin Exam." Kakashi said this without any tone of regret or hesitance in his voice. Iruka muttered annoyedly under his breath.

"Team 8, led by Kurenai: Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino. Under the name of Yuuhi Kurenai, the same as to my left."

Iruka looked up at Kurenai, feeling betrayed. He'd told her numerous times that they weren't ready...

"Team 10, led by Asuma: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji. Under the name of Sarutobi Asuma, the same as to my left-" Asuma's statement had barely left his lips before another voice was raised, this time in a protest.

"Wait a second!" Iruka stood, looking at the three sensei's in annoyance."Hokage-sama, please let me have a word!"

"What is it, Iruka?" The Hokage's voice was unfettered by annoyance, just patient with the sensei's request to speak. Iruka looked at the three sensei's, who had turned around to look at him: Kakashi with annoyance, Kurenai with suprise, Asuma with indifference.

"I may be speaking out of place, but most of these nine were students of mine... Of course they are talented, but I know I have had more chance than any of these three to tell that none of these genin are ready for the exam!" Iruka exclaimed. "They definitely need more experience. these are children never faced with a life-threatening mission being thrown into a dangerous situation!"

"I became a chuunin when I was six years younger than Naruto..." Kakashi said, looking at Iruka in annoyance.

"Naruto is different than you are! These children, all of them are! This isn't a war anymore, Kakashi!" Iruka said, his eyes blazing. This exam is-"

"They are always complaining about missions... Some pain might knock them into reality, ne? Crushing them... could be fun," Kakashi said, his visible eye smiling, almost silently goading Iruka on.

"What the hell does that mean?" Iruka asked, stepping towards Kakashi.

"That," Kakashi said, "Was a joke, Iruka-sensei. I can understand your feelings on this matter, you must be upset..."

Kurenai mumbled something to Kakashi, almost inaudible. Iruka's glare turned to her for a moment, as if he'd expected her to help him... But no, she'd nominated her students, too... Kakashi continued anyway.

"Iruka, stay out of this matter. They are no longer your academy students. They are my subordinates," Kakashi's glance was level with Iruka's annoyed one, his one eye as strong as Iruka's two

Asuma yawned. "Can we get over with this already? I'm tired of this..."

The Hokage paused, a sign for all parties to sit down. Iruka and Kurenai shared a look, then Hokage started to speak.

"Now for the more experienced Jounin... Gai-sensei, Kumori-sensei...?"

-

"Kurenai... what was that in there?"

Just outside the Hokage's office building, a few metres into the city, two ninja were talking quietly as they walking. Kurenai listened as Iruka talked to her, annoyed, and a little sad, at the same time.. "Why couldn't you have helped me? You're a Jounin..."

"Iruka, I'm a newbie, a rookie, someone who's been a Jounin for barely a year. I'm surprised they let me have a team at all, considering my junior position. Do you think I could have changed the 'Great Sharingan Kakashi's opinion?" Kurenai shrugged as she and Iruka walked through the crowd. "Besides, I don't know about Kakashi's kids, but Kiba, Hinata, Shino... They're ready. And I know Ino is too, even though she's not technically on my team. Iruka.. If you knew the amount of growth that these kids go through in just a few months after school..."

"Kurenai, I've been an Academy sensei for a long time, and I know that the number of sensei's who send rookie genin into a Chuunin exam have a larger chance of having a smaller team after it," Iruka said, trying to catch up with Kurenai. "Are you trying to run away from me?"

"Iruka, nobody knows about us. I'd prefer if it stayed that way, at least for a while. They wouldn't understand, anyways... Iruka, I have to meet my team. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Fine..." Iruka let himself slip back into the crowd as Kurenai seemed to disappear. He stood silently, then turned around.

'But.. what if one of them dies, because I couldn't stop them...?' he thought, guilt already filling him. "It will be my fault..." he muttered, as he made his way to his house.

-

"I hate rude midgets... Makes me want to kill them..."

Sakura's eyes widened. They had just been playing, Konohamaru and his two friends, Sakura, and Naruto... but Konohamaru had run into a strange, unfamiliar ninja... He'd grabbed Konohamaru, and was staring at him, annoyance showing in his voice.

He couldn't be much older than they were, maybe a year or two. His face had a strange design of purple inks, points from the middle of each cheek and his forehead from under his hood, and from under his chin. Also, lines at the top of his eyes and around his mouth. His strange black hood, with weird cat ears of the same fabric attached, obscured any hair. The plate attached was of the Sand, that was what Sakura could tell. He wore black for the rest of his clothing: a shirt with a black and white circle, divided from the rest with a white border; black gloves; Black pants; and open-toed sandals. Hanging on his back was a large, long thing as tall as he was, wrapped in bandages except for brown fur or hair coming from the top.

He was backed by a taller girl, also a nin. Sakura would have scrunched her nose at the girl, if she wasn't so worried about Konohamaru. Her hair, all dry and uncared for, was pulled into four rough ponytails that sprung out behind her. She wore her sand headband around her neck loosely. Her clothing, an odd one-piece shirt/skirt ensemble of white material and some underlayers of fishnet, made Sakura want to scream. And she had some large metal thing strapped to her back. When her partner had picked up Konohamaru, she's admonished him, but not done anything beyond 'We'll get yelled at' to stop him.

"Hey, let him go!" Naruto yelled, pointing at him. "I'll beat you up!"

"Che, yeah right..." The nin said, looking ready to laugh. Naruto's hands curled into fists, as Sakura's eyes filled with worry. She looked at the two strong, strange ninja.

'Ican'tdothisIcan'tdothisIcan't-'

Suddenly the were both running forwards. The nin twisted, holding Konohamaru and still kicking Naruto's blocking hands. Naruto made a grab for Konohamaru that resulted in the nin kicking him again, sending him skidding back o where he'd stood minutes ago. Sakura, though, had jumped over him and her sword was out in a flash pointed to his back, prodding him as he stopped moving.

"Drop him..." Her voice, strong but hesitant, showed her doubts of her own strength.

WOOSH! The girl standing beside him had pulled open the metal thing on her back and made a wind to blow Sakura into the wall. A giant fan! Sakura slammed into the nearby wall as Naruto got up, swearing.

"Damn it..." Naruto muttered, looking at the ground, looking ready to go again. "Grabbing Konohamaru and knocking Sakura-chan over..."

As Naruto looked up, something struck the boy on his knuckle, causing him to shout a rude word and drop Konohamaru. A pebble dropped to the ground as Konohamaru ran over to Naruto. They all looked up.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura smiled and yelled.

"Another nuisance..." The girl muttered, stashing her fan on her back. A tinge of red flowed to her cheeks for a second,and then disappeared.

Sasuke was sitting on a tree branch, tossing a pebble up and down, glaring down at the group.

While Naruto and Konohamaru argued ("I believed in you, bro!" "I coulda beat him with my eyes closed!") and Sakura rubbed her back from the pain, Sasuke glared at the foreign, violent nin. Her started unraveling the package at his back, but his older companion grabbed his shoulder.

"Kankuro, don't be and idiot," she said, grabbing him and keeping him from moving.

"Where you going to use Karasu?"

A new voice invaded the area, a monotone similar to Sasuke's drone, but even less animated if possible. a boy had appeared, upside down, on a thicker tree branch of Sasuke's tree. Short red hair; dark, sleep-deprived eyes; strange clothing; another Sand headband, and a symbol on his forehead: Ai, the symbol for love.

"You're an embarrassment to our village."

Everyone, from Sakura to Naruto, to Sasuke to the Sand-nins themselves suddenly had a worried look. The veiled hostility was enormous, the aura stifling. 'That's sneakiness worthy of Kakashi-sensei...'

"Ga... Gaara..." The boy who'd attacked Konohamaru attempted a nervous smile, looking obviously afraid. Sakura wondered, 'What's behind all this...?'

"Getting yourself lost in a fight... How pathetic. Have you forgotten why we've come to this village in the first place?" The boy intoned dangerously.

"Listen, Gaara, they started it and-" The boy, apparently named Kankuro, looked completely spooked, not daring to move a muscle.

"Shut up... I'll kill you..." The boy with the red hair, Gaara, threatened. It was obvious he would follow through on his threat if provoked.

"Okay, I'm sorry..." Kankuro said, shivering.

"I'm also sorry, really sorry..." The girl added. Sakura wondered, the aura was dangerous, but not THAT dangerous - Sasuke could handle this kid. Was there something hidden underneath it that she couldn't sense, that he'd repressed?

"Sorry to you guys. It looks like we're here early, but we didn't come to play around with... genins." Gaara appeared between the other two in a swirl of sand.

Kankuro stepped back. "I know that..." he said quietly.

"Let's go," Gaara said, turning around and starting to walk away from the group. Sakura stepped forwards, now that she could see his face clearly.

"Ninjas of the Hidden Sand, right? That's what your headbands say," she said, making eye contact for a second, then breaking it immediately. 'He might take it as a challenge... and I couldn't fight him... But, just in case...'

"Genin from the Hidden Sand, here for the Chuunin Exam? Otherwise, unless you have a valid reason, we'll have to ask you... to leave," she said, breathing heavily.

"You're right, pinkie," The girl said, making Sakura grind her teeth in annoyance. "We're here for the chuunin Exam. Now, out of our way." Her hand flew to her fan, but she was interrupted as Sasuke jumped, landing neatly in front of Sakura.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"You mean me?" the girl asked, blushing. Sakura wasn't sure whether she'd be glad that Sasuke was finally taking an interest in a female and that she'd learn the older girl's name, or to be annoyed that the girl would be poaching on her Sasuke. Sakura moved to Sasuke's side to see their faces.

"No. The one with the gourd," Sasuke said, brushing the girl aside, leaving Sakura to sigh. Hadn't they stated the boy's name already?

"...Gaara of the Sand. I'm also interested in you. Your name?" The boy seemed mildly interesting. Sasuke grinned.

"It's Uchiha Sasuke," he said, as Sakura melted at his grin. He was so...

"What about me?" Naruto yelled, grinned. Gaara sighed, and turned around.

"Not interested. Let's go."

Naruto whined to Konohamaru as Sakura pondered her position. She'd been more successful than Naruto, but she'd been blown away so effortlessly, while that sand nin, Kankuro, had needed a bit of force to knock Naruto away from him.

"Ummm... Naruto, Sasuke..."

Her quiet voice was ignore as Sasuke left, and Naruto continued squabbling with Konohamaru. Sakura sighed, and left.

-

"Hey!" Kakashi grinned, waving to his students from a tree. The three stared up at him, clearly annoyed. "I got lost on the road of life-"

"LIAR!" Naruto yelled, pointing at Kakashi annoyedly. Kakashi shrugged and leapt down gracefully.

"Anyways... this is sort of sudden, but I've nominated you three for the Chuunin Exam-"

"YAHOO!" Naruto ran around, cheering. Kakashi sighed, and Sakura's eyes widened, and she grinned.

"When is it, sensei?" She asked him hopefully.

"Tomorrow- Naruto, get over here... Here are your applications." Kakashi held out three cards with writing on them, and his signature.

"Sensei, you're awesome!" Naruto jumped up on Kakashi, grinned, then dropped down and looked at his card, giggling.

"Now, that's just a nomination. Whether you want to go or not is your own choice. If you do, turn them in at room 301 on the day of the exam... Tomorrow," He said, and Sakura bristled.

"Why did you wait so long to tell us, sensei?" She asked, clearly annoyed.

Kakashi just smiled, said, "Missions are off today," and disappeared.

"Well, that was... sudden..." Sakura said, pocketing her application and smiling at Sasuke. "We'll do great, all of us, ne?"

Naruto was lost in visions of grandeur, apparently, and Sasuke just shrugged and left. Sakura sighed, wondering to herself whether Kakashi had looked at her on purpose when he said it was their choice whether to enter the exam or not...

-

Sakura stood at the edge of the Hokage Memorial, feeling the wind blow through her hair and looking out on the village. Everyone was moving, bustling around, and she felt such a love for her village. Everyone there, she felt, she should protect them as well as she could. But...

She looked down at the sword in her hand, closing her eyes biting back a tear, remembering everything that had happened, her path as a ninja, her path as a _person_, had been rocky. Not because she was stupid, or didn't master her clans skills (her parents were both non-ninja), but rather a difference in her ideology. Ino, Naruto, Tenten, Shikamaru, they'd been there for her ever since she was little, supporting her dreams to the fullest.

To think, such a small remark brought on such a different path in her life...

"_Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto had said, kneeling down to the crying Sakura. "What's wrong, Sakura-chan_?"

"_Yeah, Sakura? This isn't like you..." Ino said, with concern in her voice. The two sat beside their friend as she smiled a little._

"_I know all the jutsu, I know every rule of conduct, I know all the kunai trajectories and everything Iruka-sensei has told us... But, everyone's so much further than me! Kiba has Akamaru and his jutsu from his family, Ino, you have your family's jutsu's, Naruto is even better than me with making jutsu! You two are awesome... But I'm weak, I can't really fight..." Sakura had mumbled, then laughed a little. "Yeah, me, highest kunoichi of her year, can't beat5 a snail in a fight..."_

"_Oh, Sakura, I know you'd put up a good fight, that snail wouldn't beat you down that easily," Ino had said with a hint of humour in her voice. When Sakura looked at her, hurt, Ino had apologised. "It's just a joke.. Sakura, you gotta find something to focus on. You know, since your family aren't some big hotshot clan, right?"_

"_Hey, Tenten-san from the class above us uses weapons from far away! What about a close weapon?" Naruto suggested, with a hint of pride in his voice for having such a good idea._

_Sakura looked confused. "What? Naruto, you don't make any sense! What do you mean, a close weapon?"_

"_I think he means close range, like an axe, or a staff, or..." Ino racked her mind for a suggestion._

"_A sword, like the ANBU use!" Naruto had said, grinning. Sakura had nodded._

"_That's a good idea, Naruto. Sasuke-kun will notice me if I get a sword!" She said, grinning._

"_Oh... This was about Sasuke? Ick." Naruto had very specific feelings towards Sasuke, and most of them weren't very nice. Okay, all of them._

"_Eugh, Naruto, would you stop complaining about Sasuke-kun?" Ino groaned as she whacked him over the head._

Sakura smiled as she remembered her Academy troubles. She'd always felt out of place in her class... Knowing everything, but being useless in a fight. She'd felt better after being on of the nine or so who's graduated of their final year's exam, but the mission in Wave Country had dented her ego.

She'd stood there as Sasuke almost died, stood there as Naruto and Kakashi fought. Their assignment was to protect Tazuna-san from bandits, a regular C-level mission that escalated to an 'A' after a very powerful missing-nin showed up to kill him. Momochi Zabuza and Haku, two powerful ninja of the Mist, had been under the employ of Gato, a powerful head of a corporation trying to completely control the Wave Country. Tazuna had been in charge of the bridge being built that would secure trading routes, making Gato significantly less powerful and saving their country.

Haku had pulled out a very powerful Bloodline technique, to turn control water and ice. His technique involved ice-mirrors, almost unbreakable. A circle of them had trapped Sasuke and Naruto inside, while he could (from Sasuke and Naruto's descriptions) make it seem like he was in all of them at the same time, then jump between them at hyper-speed to deliver shots with needles. If Sasuke's Sharingan hadn't developed, and Naruto hadn't suddenly pulled out an enormous amount of power, the two would have died. For a moment, Sakura had been convinced Sasuke _was_ dead.

Kakashi-sensei had fought Zabuza, the older missing-nin, who was as powerful or more than Haku. He'd tried to kill Zabuza with a powerful jutsu, but Haku had sacrificed himself and died for Zabuza. Gato had come, trying to kill them all with a crowd of hired thugs, but Zabuza (with neither of his arms working) had borrowed one of Kakashi's kunai, rushed through the crowd, become a sword/spear pincushion, and killed Gato where he stood. Then, he'd returned to Haku's body and died beside him, while Kakashi, Naruto and the villagers scared the thugs away.

Note: In this fight, all Sakura had done was stand there and futilely attempted to protect Tazuna, while not coming to terms with the fact that _she_ was the one who needed rescuing nine times out of ten, and that not matter how much she'd trained she was exactly like she was all that time ago and that having a sword didn't matter if you can't use it and-

"Woah, Sakura, stop thinking for a second, you're going to go insane..." she muttered, sighing. Now, she wondered whether she should bother with this Chuunin Exam. Heck, if they let her pass they should be charged as a criminal offense. There was no way she'd be ready for this.

Was she even cut out to be a ninja? She couldn't fight, her accuracy with a kunai couldn't hold up to her calculations anyways, and memorization of the ninja code could never save her life. Her parents had been constantly worried, even her ninja grandfather had shown his doubts...

"_Sakura..." Her grandfather looked down at her with a disappointed tone. "I thought you knew better than this?"_

"_Than what, grandfather?" She'd asked, her eyes tearing up at his glare. He shook his head._

"_You use this sword... You use it like a samurai, not like a ninja. To a ninja, a sword is merely a tool, like a kunai or a shuriken. A fool, a samurai, is the only type who uses a sword in place of jutsu, because he is ignorant of how to use them at all! A sword will always be inferior to a ninjas art, Sakura."_

Sakura had cried for hours after that incident, but after had resolved that, with her sword skills, she would be a great ninja in spite of her lack of skill with jutsu, and capture Sasuke-kun's heart!

Had her future always depended of Sasuke? _Yes..._ A little voice in Sakura's head whispered nastily, and she had to shake her head to dispel it. But it was right, after all. Yes, she'd joined the Academy before she'd known him, but he was the reason she'd used so many times to not drop out.

_You're going to have to admit to yourself that Sauske doesn't even see you, Sakura. Will you still want to be a ninja after that?_ The voice whispered again, and Sakura couldn't dispel it this time.

Was she a ninja because of a goal she couldn't meet, a person she couldn't attain? Could she ever have a hope with Sasuke, and did it even matter? Being a ninja was more serious than one person, because it was sacrificing your life for one cause: Your village. 9 out of 10 ninja died because they _were_ ninja, in situations based on their status as a ninja.

Did she really want that, for herself, for her family? It would be her fault if her children had to grow up motherless, pr never even have the chance to exist. Would she damn them to nonexistence over Sasuke?

No. Because her original reason was Sasuke, but now she had more to prove. She had decided, years ago, the day that her grandfather had rebuked her, that she would become a great ninja in spite of the fact her skills were in the area of sword fighting. She could beat most flat-out taijutsu users, and some jutsu hotshots as well.

She was not weak, she was not useless. She just needed to find her spot. Was she ready to give her life for her village? Yes.

But would she sacrifice Sasuke for her dream? No, because he was her dream. She would do her best to support his dreams, help him, keep him from self-destructing. Tenten had told her stories from Neji of Hyuuga prodigies who had committed suicide when their life had become too stressful. Too many disappointments, too many tragedies... They built up after time.

Haruno Sakura would die for her dream, because he was her dream and she would die for him at a moments notice, end of story. But she was also someone who fought this ideal, someone who wished to become great. Tenter's influence on her, steady but true, had meant a lot to her, changed her more than she was willing to admit. Tenten was her idol, the person she thought was a great role model: A girl who had a dream and followed through. Sakura wanted to follow this ideal.

Sakura turned around, sheathed her sword, and smiled. She'd need her sleep, tomorrow was the Chuunin Exam!

-End Chapter Five-

A/N: Hey! Sorry bout the chapter... A lot more Sakura, more taken-from-manga events and not enough Ino, and definitely not enough Naruto. Any of you out there dying of lack of Naruto? Don't worry, after three chapters Naruto will make his comeback. He _is_ the main character of the series, ne? Next chapter: Teams 7 and 10, as well as 8 and Gai, head off to the Chuunin Exam!

-Alden


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